00 WITCHES: The Rewrite
by Sky EXE
Summary: Inspired by Manic 101's fic, Quantum Shift. The Dialogues-to-Come have failed, and war has come to Earth. But Veda has presented a back-up plan: Time Travel… and a parallel universe. With a new generation of Gundam Meisters, will Celestial Being be able to unite mankind and initiate the Dialogues-to-Come with the Neuroi, or will they fail like their predecessors?
1. Chapter 1: The Arrival

**00 WITCHES**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 1: The Arrival**

* * *

Humankind was doomed.

Setsuna was fleeing the core of the enemy fleet. He had reached out to the species that had been dubbed the ELS, and tried to fulfil the Dialogues-to-Come. He had used his Gundam's Quantum Burst to talk to them using telepathy. The homeless species had seen all the progress that humanity had made to unify themselves and decided that it wasn't enough; that all the sacrifices made to achieve the world envisioned by Aeolia Schenberg was less than the ELS's desire for a new home.

Setsuna broke through the outer shell of the ELS core and flew into open space, only to be greeted by more bad news. The Earth Federation's army was being annihilated, and were being driven back to their orbital base. At this point, the small terminal on Setsuna's left chimed in.

"Setsuna," said the holographic image of Tieria Erde, "Don't panic."

Outside, the Gundam 00 Qan[T] carved its way through the enemy fleet, back towards its allies. Inside, Setsuna gazed at the terminal in lieu of stating the obvious. Tieria took the hint and clarified,

"I mean that Veda has just sent me its back-up plan."

"What is it?" said Setsuna coolly, "How does it expect us to salvage this mess?"

"We don't. We use 00 Qan[T]'s time-space manipulating FTL features to send us back in time."

Setsuna went silent as he considered the implications.

"Will it work?"

"It's our only option. I've already sent the signal to form up around the Celestial Being space station. Lockon, Allelujah and the escape pods from the Ptolemaios are already within range."

Setsuna was glad to hear his comrades were safe. He tuned the voice of Tieria out as it went on about transferring data to enable the new technique; instead he focused on combat, slicing his way through the enemy Mobile Suits. Soon enough, Setsuna arrived at the position indicated by Veda, for best catchment of allies while avoiding transporting any ELS. This position also transported most of the federation's orbital base – Celestial Being's self-titled former Headquarters.

Setsuna took a moment to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to do. Questions about the technique – How accurate was it? Would those caught get scattered? Where would they arrive? - pounded through his head. He inserted Veda's choice of temporal coordinates – 1930 A.D. - and waited a few seconds for the optimal moment. He heard Tieria shout, "Now!"

Setsuna shouted his last hope to whoever was listening,

"Gundam 00 Qan[T]: Quantum Burst!"

* * *

Two figures can be seen walking along a dirt road headed for the nearby town of Yokosuka. The first figure was a man who looked to be around in his late fifties. He was wearing a white shirt with a light blue shirt underneath it, white pants and a pair of black shoes. He had black hair, black eyes, and was wearing a pair of glasses. The second figure was a woman who looked to be around her early thirties. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was also wearing a pair of glasses. Her clothes consisted of a red shirt, a metallic light blue skirt that went to the knees, and a pair of brown shoes similar in design to those worn by the first figure. These two people were Ian and Linda Vashti, the two lead engineers of Celestial Being.

The two were currently on a recon mission to scout the new timeline that the 00 Qan[T]'s Quantum Burst had taken them, but they weren't the only ones on the surface; Tieria Erde, the organization's spy master, was in the general area of Germany, Lyle Dylandy and his wife Anew Returner (Anew survived, and Lyle proposed to her just before the final battle with the ELS) were in Great Britain, and Allelujah Haptism and his soon-to-be-wife Marie Parfacy were in the Americas. The Vashti's, minus their daughter who had opted to stay in space, were tasked in scouting Japan.

As the two were walking towards Yokosuka, they passed by what appeared to be a house that had recently burned down, along with metal parts from what appeared to be a plane scattered across the property. Also there were several people who were clearly in the military cleaning up the mess and gathering the metal parts.

"Dear lord, what happened there?" Ian asked his wife.

Linda frowned. "I don't know… but I hope no one was hurt."

"I wouldn't be so sure… look there." Ian pointed to a piece of the wreckage that two men were just now removing from the destroyed building, which they figured was a house. "That's a propeller used on old aircraft before the advent of the jet engine. If the pilot didn't have a parachute, then he most likely didn't survive."

His wife sighed. "You're right… let's keep going." She didn't want to be in a depressing area any more than she had to be.

Ian nodded, knowing what was troubling his wife, and the two continued on towards Yokosuka.

* * *

After another hour of walking, the two arrived at the town. To make sure that they didn't look suspicious, the two decided to act like they were tourists from Europe.

As the two were looking around the town and gathering information (i.e. buying maps and learning the names of the countries, researching Japan's [or rather, Fuso's] history, and making small-talk with the locals), the two passed by a building which had a sign above it which said "Yokosuka Orphanage." The two ignored the building and were about to continue when their eyes glowed a golden color for a moment as the two sensed something that they didn't expect; quantum brainwaves coming straight from the orphanage.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Ian muttered under his breath. "Quantum brainwaves, no matter how weak they are, in an orphanage of all places?"

Linda ignored her husband's muttering and walked into the building.

"Good afternoon." The receptionist, a young lady who looked to be in her mid-twenties greeted them as the two walked in. "May I help you with anything?"

"Would it be alright if we looked at a few of the children here?" Linda asked politely, sending a glance towards her husband to play along for now, to which he responded with a short nod.

"Certainly… well, to be quite honest, most of the children here have already been adopted; the only reason they're still here is because their new homes are being renovated to accommodate them." The lady responded.

That got Linda's attention. "Then… what about the rest?"

Here, the lady's face saddened, getting the attention of the Vashti's real quick. "There are… two new residents who have just lost their families just last week."

Ian was starting to see where this was going, and decided to make a guess as he remembered the destroyed house that he and his wife passed on the way to the town. "Let me guess… their families were in that house that we passed by when that plane crashed into it. Is that right?"

The lady nodded. "The only reason those two are even alive is because they were outside at the time of the crash… the younger of the two still has her father, but he can't take care of her; as much as he wants to, his work won't let him."

The two frowned at the information they were told, but then Linda spoke up. "Can I see them?"

Ian looked at his wife in mild surprise, but wasn't against it.

The lady nodded. "Sure. Come this way." She walked out from behind the reception desk and walked towards a door, gesturing for the two to follow.

Once through the door, the two Vashti's found themselves in a long hallway, with the lady standing next to one of the doors. When the two were next to her, she knocked on the door, saying "Yoshika? Michiko? It's me… I'm coming in, and there's some people who want to see you."

After waiting a few seconds to make sure her message was heard, she slowly opened the door and walked in, allowing the married couple to follow her. Inside the room were two very young girls, and both of them didn't even look to be over the age of two, although one looked slightly older than the other, sitting in a crib, ignoring their presence. The first girl and the younger of the two had short brown hair and hazel nut eyes which were stained with tears. The second girl and the older of the two had dark blue hair and brown eyes which were also stained in tears. Both of them were wearing small white shirts as well as a diaper, indicating that they haven't been potty-trained yet.

Ian turned to look at his wife, only to find that she wasn't there. Confused, he looked at the two toddlers again only to see Linda slowly and gently rubbing her hands on their heads, getting their attention as they looked up at her. That was when they sensed the weak quantum brainwaves again, and they now realized that they were emanating from the younger toddler. Linda, however, didn't pay any mind to this; her strong motherly instincts were working their magic in helping to soothe the two toddlers who were still trying to overcome the loss of their families.

"So… what are their names?" Ian asked; he already knew that their names were Yoshika and Michiko from what the lady had said earlier, but he would like to know which one was which.

"The one with brown hair is Yoshika Miyafuji, and the other one with blue hair is Michiko Yamakawa. The two of them are cousins, just so you know." The lady answered.

Ian nodded at the info, when his wife noticed that the two toddlers that she was now holding were starting to cry. Her motherly instincts flaring to life, she used a trick that almost always calmed Mileina down when she was an infant:

She started singing in a soft voice.

_Beneath the veil of starry sky,  
As cold as winter's darkest night.  
It's there you sleep, silent and deep,  
You're all alone._

_I sing the prayer's_  
_Soft melody_  
_Across the lonely silent fields_  
_A little light began to shine,_  
_It shines on and on_

The soft crying of the two toddlers was gradually reduced to soft sobbing as Linda kept singing.

_I watched you as you so peacefully dreamed,_  
_You laughed like a child,_  
_Happy and carefree_  
_It's all familiar and yet so far,_  
_That's the future's promise for you and me._

_One day on a green and shiny morn',_  
_One day we will finally make it through_  
_Cause in this sky_  
_So dark with winter,_  
_We still have to believe it's true_  
_Fields of hope._

Linda kept on singing as her voice soothed the sobbing toddlers into calming down.

_A gentle touch  
A loving brush  
Those things I still search for  
A prayer in  
A melody  
It goes on and on_

_I sing the prayer's_  
_Soft melody_  
_One vanishes, one dies_  
_And all in all_  
_It starts again_  
_A never ending cycle_

Now Linda began singing with more passion as the two infants in her arms began falling asleep due to the lullaby.

_One day on a green and shining morn'  
Through all the long nights we've been fighting for  
There lies a place  
Far from disgrace  
Where we won't have to hide from the world again_

_Now there lies a deep love within my heart_  
_A yearn to protect you and keep you warm_  
_It's all familiar and yet so far,_  
_It's made for the peace of mind_  
_Fields of hope_

_Natsukashiku mada tooi_  
_Yakusoku no nohara_  
_Fields of hope_  
_Fields of hope_

As Linda concluded her lullaby, she looked down and smiled at the sight of the two sleeping infants.

The lady had tears in her eyes. "I… I've never heard something so beautiful before…"

Ian smiled. "That's my wife for you; she loves children more than just about anything in the world."

As Linda made a move to put the two back in the crib, she felt a tug on her shirt. Confused, she looked down, only to see that their tiny hands were tightly clutching onto her shirt, and if their small whimper was anything to go by, they didn't want her to leave. The blonde engineer of Celestial Being couldn't help herself but to hold the two close to herself as she stood up and slowly walked towards the other two adults in the room.

"I… I would…" Linda started, but the lady held up a hand to stop her.

"I already know what you're going to say… but please… promise me that they'll grow up happy. It's the least I can do for them now. Come with me; I'll need you two to help with the appropriate paperwork."

The only thing Linda did was nod, internally grateful to the lady for letting her adopt them as she and her husband followed the lady back to the front desk.

* * *

One hour later, all of the paperwork was finished, and the two toddlers were renamed as Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti and Michiko Yamakawa Vashti, both of whom were wrapped in a blanket and were peacefully sleeping as Linda refused to let go of them, which made signing the paperwork take a little more time than necessary, but the other two adults didn't mind. As the two bid the lady farewell, Ian looked up at the sky and noticed that it was night, with Linda not paying any mind to that as she was still holding onto her two new daughters with a care that only a loving mother could provide. The Vashti's, with Yoshika and Michiko in tow walked out of Yokosuka using the same road that they used to arrive, and after walking for three miles the two decided to take a break next to a tree. Linda was all too happy to oblige; she was exhausted, and her constant checking on her new daughters wasn't helping with the exhaustion.

Ian, meanwhile, decided to contact Setsuna to have his Gundam relay a message to the _Celestial Being_ about their findings.

"_Understood."_ Setsuna replied over the communication line as he received the message that Ian had sent, then sent it towards the _Celestial Being_. Shortly afterwards, the others on the ground also sent their findings towards him to send back to base.

"Setsuna, get down here and pick the four of us up; we're returning to base." Ian requested.

"_Roge-"_ Setsuna started, but paused; did Ian just say four? "_Mind repeating that again?"_

The older Vashti sighed. "Just get down here, and we'll explain when we get back to base."

"_Roger."_ The Meister of 00 Qan[T] replied as his Gundam began descending into the atmosphere to pick up the Vashti's; he'd get the answers he wanted soon enough. On his holographic display, he noticed that Gundam Zabanya was making its way towards Germany - or rather Karlsland as it was known to the natives of this apparent alternate Earth – to pick up Tieria Erde, and he saw that Gundam Harute was using Trans-Am in conjunction to its GN Boosters to meet up with Zabanya at the appointed rendezvous point above what they now knew was called Orussia.

After descending through the atmosphere above Fuso, it was a simple matter for Setsuna to make his way towards the beacon that Ian's communication device was broadcasting from. After arriving at his destination, he lowered his machine into a kneeling position and opened the cockpit, lowering the zip-line as he did so.

"Linda, you first honey." Ian said to his wife.

Linda nodded and, after making sure that her grip on the two infants was secure, grabbed the zip-line and held on tightly as she was hoisted up to the cockpit.

Setsuna took one glance at the two sleeping toddlers and gave Linda a look that said 'Explain. Now.'

"Later." The blonde Vashti responded to the look as she carefully climbed into the cockpit before settling herself in the area to the right of Setsuna. Several minutes later, Ian climbed into the cockpit as well, seating himself to the left of the pilot's seat as Setsuna retracted the zip-line, closed the hatch and rose his Gundam off the ground. With a burst of green GN particles, he accelerated towards the designated rendezvous point, estimating that it would take five hours to get there.

After arriving at the rendezvous point, Setsuna was greeted by Lockon's voice. _"You finally made it. I was getting worried about you."_

"I'm alright," Setsuna reassured his comrade "But Linda had picked up something… extra."

"_What do you mean by 'extra'?"_ Allelujah asked.

"See for yourself." With that, he adjusted the view of the internal cockpit camera so that it was focused on a now sleeping Linda still holding onto the two sleeping toddlers who were clutching onto her tightly.

"… _Mind giving me an explanation?"_ Tieria asked.

"_They're adorable…"_ Anew gushed quietly so as to not wake them up.

Marie Parfacy, along with her other personality Some Peries, internally agreed as they also found the sleeping infants adorable.

"Like I told Setsuna; I'll explain things when we get back to base." Ian sighed.

Setsuna didn't see any problems with it; being in close proximity to them, he could sense the weak quantum brainwaves coming from one of them. Activating his Gundam's Quantum System, he set the coordinates to within one kilometer of their base and watched as the GN Sword Bits came off the shield mounted on the left shoulder and form up in a circular formation, creating a portal consisting of GN particles as they did so. Zabanya was the first to enter the portal and was quickly followed by Harute, after which was followed by the 00 Qan[T] and its Sword Bits, causing the portal to close before anyone else could look at it. Exiting the portal, Setsuna was greeted by the infinite expanse of space as he recalled his Sword Bits and met up with Zabanya and Harute, then looked at their base.

The deep space ship _Celestial Being_, and the former space headquarters for the ESF, floating in orbit around Jupiter.

It has been six months since they arrived to this alternate universe after escaping from the ELS War, and what remained of the ESF that had been transported with them had joined Celestial Being, but only out of necessity; they didn't have much of a choice in leaving due to their current location above Jupiter. Although relations are slightly tense, there hasn't been any in-fighting as of yet, which is probably because of a side-effect of the Quantum Burst: Due to the large amount of purified GN particles, the consciousness of every person who was transported along with the Quantum Burst was expanded, resulting in them evolving into Purebred Innovators, the next step in human evolution.

The three Gundams made their way into one of the hangar doors and docked to their respective berthing's as the entrance sealed shut behind them. As the Meisters exited their Gundams, being quickly followed by Tieria, Anew, Ian, and Linda along with her two new daughters, who were now wide awake and looking around their new surroundings. Their gaze turned to their new mother, who smiled and said four words.

"Welcome to Celestial Being."

* * *

_Time-skip, 13.5 Years Later_

_Yoshika's POV_

It's been several hours since I've destroyed the core of the Neuroified _Akagi_, and the Strike Witches were celebrating their achievement of liberating Gallia with a party. I, on the other hand, was internally gauging what I knew about them to see if they met the necessary qualifications that I am looking for... while still having fun, of course.

As I walked around, I decided to talk with some of the friends that I made during my time here, starting with Minna. Seeing the red-haired Wing Commander over at the bar, I decided to have a small chat with her.

"This seat taken?" I asked her as I pulled out one of the stools.

Minna looked at me and smiled. "No. Go ahead."

I gave her my thanks and sat down.

_'Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke. She's the Wing Commander of the 501st, and has a good sense of responsibility, as well as a level head most of the time. However, her mandate of the Witches not being allowed to interact with men outside of absolute necessity kept her from being a prime candidate; Celestial Being doesn't need someone who's mental trauma will make her anti-social to almost everyone on the base, and I'd rather not have another Setsuna F. Seiei if I can help it. And even then, she may not fight for the Aeolia Principles. What puts the final nail in the coffin is that, well, she's the Wing Commander of the 501st, and someone like her just can't disappear off the face of the Earth without attracting any attention, so she's off the list.'_ I thought to myself as Minna began speaking.

"Yoshika, I would like to know how you met your adoptive parents, Ian and Linda." She told me.

Is that so? I guess I can tell her most of the truth, although I would have to omit some things.

"My mother and grandmother died when a plane crashed into my home, along with Micchi's family, and the only reason Micchi and I survived was because we were outside playing at the time. A week after that, we were in an orphanage when Ian and Linda came in and decided to adopt the two of us. We've been travelling with them ever since." Alright, I'm lying about the travelling part, but there's no need for her to know that.

Minna looked shocked before her face saddened. "I'm sorry... I probably shouldn't have brought it up..."

I grabbed a bottle of water and opened it, taking a few sips as I did so. "It's alright. You wouldn't have known without someone telling you."

"Actually, I heard about it from Mio, but I wanted to confirm it with you..." Well, that's a surprise, but I should have expected it; Mio would have most likely told her superior officer about everything she knew about me. Good thing they don't know about Celestial Being just yet.

"I see... well, I guess I'll go and chat with the others. See you later, Minna." With that, I left the bar, acknowledging her "Take care." with a nod and a wave, I searched for someone else to make small talk with.

"Oi, Miyafuji!"

Well, I guess somebody else wanted to take the initiative instead.

Turning my head towards the source, although I already knew who it was by just the way her voice sounded, I was greeted with the sight of Mio waving me over to her.

_'Mio Sakamoto. If she were to be picked, then she would be a reserve Meister due to the fact that she specializes in close-range combat, and is quite skilled at it, mind you, but I'm already the Meister of the new close-range type Gundam. However, there are too many things that keep her from being a good candidate; first, there's the fact that she's just about constantly thinking about training and fighting. Now if it was just training, then it wouldn't matter so much, but since she also keeps thinking about fighting the Neuroi, it puts her near the bottom of the list of potential recruits. She's also deadly loyal to her country, and would most likely try to steal some of our tech to give to Fuso, and even though I may have also been born in Fuso, my true home will always be with Celestial Being. What truly keeps her from being a candidate for being recruited at all is that her opinion towards the Neuroi is that they are nothing but monsters that only deserve to die, and that her attitude can be somewhat likened to that of a warmonger, so it is very unlikely that she will fight for the Aeolia Principles. She is a major disappointment as a candidate; she should know that there is more than one way to win a war, and one such way is through dialogue. I attempted to initiate the Dialogues-to-Come with the Neuroi twice, and the first attempt was interrupted by Sakamoto herself while the second, in which I was literally only a single centimeter away from succeeding in, was interrupted by a pathetic rip-off of a Mobile Suit powered by a captured Neuroi fragment made by General Trevor Maloney; a die-hard warmonger and Witch-hater in my opinion. If it wasn't for that plasma barrier it had, even an AEU-05/05 AEU Hellion could take it out with ridiculous ease. But in short, I wouldn't be able to recommend Mio Sakamoto as a candidate. End of story.'_ I ran through my analysis of Mio mentally, before I walked over to her. "Yes, what is it, Mio?"

"I'd just like to say that you came a long way from when we first met." She said with a smile on her face. "Although I still find it a bit hard to believe that that you knew so little about magic back then."

Ah... she was reminiscing back when we first met, eh? Thinking about it, I also remembered when we first met several months ago.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Yoshika's POV_

_My family and I were walking down a road towards mine and Michiko's home town, seeking out a teacher who would help me learn how to control the magic that was confirmed by the others of Celestial Being that I possess. Although I still have some doubt about the decision to find me a teacher, there was no mistaking that we needed all the data that we could get about this power that I possess._

_As we were walking towards the town, we passed by what appeared to be a house that that was in ruins... but there was something familiar about it. Me and Michiko stopped to look at the ruins, something that almost instantly got the attention of their adoptive parents._

_Ian and Linda took one glance in the direction we were looking and instantly recognized where they were. "This place..." Linda muttered to herself._

_Michiko and I heard her though. "You know what this place is...?" My cousin asked._

_Our parents nodded. "We believe that this... used to be your home, Yoshika." Ian answered._

_I froze, looking at my parents momentarily, then back to the ruins. "...This used to be... my home...?"_

_"Yes... and this is where the accident that took the lives of your families happened.." Linda looked down in sadness, remembering when she first saw the scene all those years ago._

_So... this is where it happened. The two of us were told what happened to our true families; we just never expected that we'd actually see the place where it happened._

_The four of us remained silent for around ten minutes, before I spoke. "...Let's keep going; I'd rather not stay here any longer than necessary."_

_The other three nodded, before we left the ruins behind and resumed walking towards Yokosuka._

_Unknown to us, though, we were being watched by two figures who were in a jeep on a hill above us... and one of the occupants, a woman who looked to be around 20 years of age, was looking at me in interest._

* * *

_When we arrived at the town, it was bustling with activity. Michiko and I were actually overwhelmed at the sight, but this was the first time we've been outside of the deep space colony ship _Celestial Being_ in over 13 years; as such, we were eager to see what a town on Earth was like, especially if it's our hometown._

_We were looking around at the sights, occasionally stopping by a restaurant to get a quick bite to eat. But as the day dragged on, we couldn't find someone who could teach me how to control my magic. We were about to call it quits when we were approached from behind._

_"Excuse me, but you appear to be looking for something. Might I ask what it may be?" the voice of a young woman rang out from behind us._

_The four of us turned around to see a young woman who was wearing a white military uniform as well as a white eye-patch that had a diagonal blue stripe running through the middle of it... and she wasn't wearing any pants, leaving the bottom portion of what appeared to be swimmers fully visible._

_The four of us were deeply disturbed about that last fact, but Linda managed to control her shock and answered her. "Yes. We are looking for someone who can help Yoshika here control her magic."_

_The young woman blinked, before she let out what could be considered to be a trademark laugh. "If I had known that sooner, I would have offered to teach her; I'm an experienced Witch myself!" She then looked at me right in the eye. "Yes... I sense a lot of magical power from you, but most of it is still dormant... tell me, what is your name? And before I forget, mine is Mio Sakamoto, a Major in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing."_

_"Y... Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti... ma'am." I replied after hesitating momentarily; I wasn't expecting someone from the military to take an interest in me._

_Mio's facial expression suddenly went from happy to shocked. "...Miyafuji...? You're Yoshika Miyafuji?"_

_I nodded._

_Ian stepped forward. "So what if she's Yoshika Miyafuji? Do you happen to know her?"_

_The Major was silent for a few moments before she got over her shock. "No... but I did know her father... well, her real father that is."_

_My eyes widened in shock. "Y-You know my real father?!" _

_"Yes... I knew him well..." She looked like she was reminiscing... hold on a minute..._

_"You said 'knew'... so does that mean...?"_

_"Yes... he supposedly died in a laboratory accident several years ago. Not even I know what happened." __I couldn't believe it; I was internally hoping to meet him someday, and he dies before that could happen. "But I would like to know how you met these three people." Here, she gestured towards my family._

_"Well, Michiko is my cousin, and sister by adoption. And these two are Ian and Linda Vashti, our adoptive parents." I introduced them to the Major._

_"Nice to meet you." Ian said, holding his hand out for Mio to shake, who did so a second later._

_Linda and Michiko gave a similar greeting._

_Mio gave all of us a smile. "So... mind telling me what you've all been doing for the last... decade or so?"_

_Flashback End_

* * *

I sighed, smiling at the memory. "Yeah... back then, I didn't have a clue on how to use my magic."

"And look at yourself now; you've come so far, and it's only been about six months. You're real family, if they were still alive, would have been proud of you Miyafuji. I'm certain of it."

Upon hearing this, my eyes widened in shock. "Y...You really think so...?"

The Major let out her trademark laugh and gave me a big smile. "Absolutely! I'm proud to call you my star student!"

I blushed in embarrassment; was I really that good?

After a few more minutes of idle chatter, I started looking for someone else to talk to when my eyes rested on a figure with brown hair tied into two small pig-tails and was wearing a Karlsland military outfit. This person I was able to instantly identify as Gertrud Barkhorn.

_'Gertrud Barkhorn, aka "Trudy". Like Sakamoto, there are plenty of faults with her; for instance, they would both love nothing more than to eliminate the Neuroi from existence without any consideration of coexistence, she takes things too seriously and easily snaps under pressure as I have seen on several occasions, she most likely won't fight for the Aeolia Principles, and she's even more strict than Sakamoto if that was ever possible. Ironically enough, she's also a siscon, if anything Erica told me about her was true that is. The true deciding factor is that she's already a firm soldier of a cause she believes in. Case in point, she isn't someone I would recommend as a recruit.' _"Hey, Trude." I greeted her after I completed my evaluation of her, getting her attention.

The "Perfect Soldier of Karlsland" looked over in my direction. "Oh, Miyafuji. Is there something you needed?"

I shook my head. "Nah. I just wanted to chat."

"Is that so? Well, what do you want to talk about?" she asked me.

I thought about it for a few seconds before I remembered something. "Hey, don't you have a little sister? How is she doing?"

Trude looked a bit surprised that I would ask her about that, but she shook it off quickly and smiled. "She's doing great, actually. Thanks to the help of some healing Witches at the hospital, she's recovering quickly and should be out by the end of next month."

I smiled as well. "Perhaps I'll get to meet her someday."

"You might... you just might." She answered, before she adopted a thoughtful expression. "But I'm still curious about one thing... that trump card of yours, how did you pull it off?"

I stiffened, my mind quickly flashing back towards the day around two and a half months ago when I was forced to reveal my trump card... as well as figuring out first-hand the price for using such a power.

"I'd... rather not talk about it." I answered while shifting uncomfortably.

Thankfully, Barkhorn noticed my discomfort. "I apologize if I disturbed you."

I waved it off, knowing that she didn't mean any ill-will. "It's alright. But I'd appreciate it if you don't bring that back up again."

"Bring what back up again?" a voice asked, getting our attention.

The two of us turned to the speaker, who I recognized was Erica Hartmann.

__'Erica Hartmann. Her skill in combat is extraordinary, and that alone would make me consider recruiting her if it wasn't for the fact that she's so irresponsible that it's downright ridiculous; if she was given a Mobile Suit, then she'd most likely trash it on the first day and cause massive amounts of collateral damage at the same time. Add to the fact that she's so lazy that she might even sleep through an enemy attack if given the opportunity, as well as the fact that she's never cleaned her room even once, and she's also off the list. Now, if she could learn some responsibility, then I'd be willing to put her on the B-list; but until then, that isn't happening.'_ _ My mind ran through my assessment before I heard Trude answer her question.

"Miyafuji asked me to not talk about her trump card again... for some reason it disturbs her."

"Really?" Erica looked at me. "Well, you sure scared me when you went into that coma of yours."

I shuddered at the memory, not wanting to remember it.

"Hartmann! Can't you see that she doesn't want to talk about it?!" Trude snapped at her in my defense, to which I was grateful for.

"Eh? What do you-... oh." She began to ask before she saw my grimace as I remembered it again. "Sorry, Miyafuji."

I sighed. "Please... just drop it already." With that, I left the two to their own agendas. Taking another few sips from my water bottle, I noticed a flash of blonde in my peripheral vision. Glancing in the direction in which I saw it, I was greeted by the sight of Perrine in her usual idolizing of Sakamoto.

_'Perrine H. Clostermann. I'm not even going to start on her; that arrogance and "holier-than-thou" attitude towards everybody except Sakamoto, who I am positive that she's in love with, keeps her from even being a consideration. If she can grow out of those then I might consider her, but until then she's off the list... and honestly, what's with her treating Mio like that? It's like she's worshipping an idol or something!'_

Choosing to ignore the Gallian noble (yeah, a noble pain in the ass if you ask me), I took another look around the room and spotted two figures who were sleeping on the couch. I identified them as Eila and Sanya, and I wasn't surprised in the least that they were asleep; since the two of them usually have night patrol together, they tend to sleep during the day.

_'Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. From what I can get out of her through observation, she's mischievous, likes playing pranks, has little sense of the importance of teamwork due to her Foresight magic ability, which has also made her arrogant, and is overprotective of Sanya. Her lack of teamwork skills, along with her arrogance that I just mentioned, are enough to keep her off the list.'_ I concluded my assessment of Eila and gazed at Sanya. _'Sanya V. Litvyak. She's a quiet girl who is responsible for night patrol, and is quite good at it. Her Magic Antenna ability allows her to listen in on distant radio broadcasts, even to those that are beyond the horizon. Now, as far as she goes with being a candidate, I'm not really sure about her just yet; I've only been able to meet her a few times during my entire time in the 501st, so I can't draw any conclusions yet. I'll need more time to contemplate a conclusion before I can decide.'_

I decided to let the two of them sleep in peace and left to look for someone else to talk to.

"Miyafuji! Over here, girl!"

Again, it seems as though someone decided to take the initiative. Looking in the direction of the voice, I was greeted to the sight of Shirley waving me over.

_'Charlotte E. Yeager, often called Shirley for short. To be blunt, she's a speed demon, and she shows it off every time she goes into combat. Despite that, she's skilled enough in high-speed aerial combat to be considered a top candidate for any of the Gundams in the Kyrios line... well, amongst the 501st anyway. She is as free as the wind and refuses to take most things seriously, a mechanic that wouldn't be careful when trying to learn quantum physics and most certainly lead to multiple failures that we won't have the time to deal with, and since she lacks the two qualities that I'm looking for, she's also off the list.'_ Finished with my mental assessment, I walked over to the free-spirited Liberion and cracked a smile. "So, what do you want, Speedo?"

As expected, Shirley laughed when I called her by the nickname I've given her several months ago. "Not much. Just wanted to know what you'd be doing once this is all over."

Oh, is that all? Well, I can't tell her the truth for obvious reasons. But... I guess I can tell her a cover story in case this ever happened.

"I... guess I'll travel around Britannia for a few months, then stay at London with my family for a while." I answered her.

"Oh? They're staying at London?" Shirley asked.

I was about to answer her when my senses detected someone right behind me. Reacting swiftly, I spun around to the left, dodging a pair of grabby hands that were trying to grope me. I took one look at the offender and wasn't surprised at who it was.

_'Francesca Lucchini. She's mischievous like Eila, is even lazier than Erica to the point that she'll sleep just about anywhere, loves to grope the breasts of others, and often skips out on training. From what I can tell by observation, she seems to look up to Shirley as a mother-figure. In the air… she's amazing, even by the standards of a Witch. She seems to have a deep understanding about the principles of aerial combat, and she flies with a passion that I've never seen from a Witch before. Her skill and understanding of aerial combat alone are good enough to put her on the A-list, but since she's a child, her sleeping habits, her... "hobby", her laziness, and the fact that she also lacks the two crucial traits that I'm looking for are what keep me from considering her as a recruit.'_ Complete with my mental evaluation, I gave Lucchini a sharp glare. "How many times must I tell you to stop trying to grope me?!"

As usual, Lucchini grinned. "Just admit it; you don't want me to know how flat you really are~!" She exclaimed in a sing-song tone of voice.

"Fla-" I started to yell before I reigned myself in; it wouldn't do any good to lose control of my anger. Instead, I thought of what I knew about her for a few seconds before I smirked, coming up with a plan. "Oh, really? So says the one who's so flat she makes a board look sexy." Oh yes, I am definitely getting payback from all the times she tried to grope me and teased me about not letting her do so... And judging from the way her cheerful mood did a sudden 180, I'm pretty sure that it was working. "And honestly; what's with your obsession with boobs, anyway? I know you want to fill out some more, but feeling up others isn't exactly the way you should go about doing it!"

Lucchini nuzzled her head into Shirley's bust and stuck her tongue out at me. "You can't tell me what to do; I'm a genius!"

I decided that trying to tease her wasn't worth the effort; I had forgotten about that enormous ego of hers, and to show her up with my knowledge of Quantum Physics would instantly place me under suspicion, and might compromise Celestial Being and its secrets. What would truly make that a nightmare... is the fact that I know everything about the GN Drive; down to its tiniest components and how to manufacture them and the Drives themselves.

I let go of the subject and bid the two farewell, walking away as I did so. Taking another few sips from my water bottle, I looked around the room for the one person I have yet to talk to; the first friend I have made while I was in the 501st, and one of the best friends I've ever made... Lynette Bishop.

_'Lynette Bishop. A shy girl who serves as the sharpshooter for the squadron and also has the ability to somewhat alter the flight path of the bullets she fires, in addition to being able to enhance their penetration power by charging her magic into them. Also, she's gifted with extraordinary eyesight, allowing her to see and snipe enemies from a significantly larger distance than any normal person can ever hope to achieve without the use of a scope… and Lynette has never used a scope, period. On top of that, she was the only one who supported me when I tried to tell the others that the Humanoid Neuroi was trying to tell me something, and she even went as far as to come with me when I made a second attempt at the Dialogues-to-Come, and… and…'_

That was when I realized something.

'_She's perfect… She's perfect!'_ I internally cheered; Lynette had most of, if not all of the qualities I was looking for.

I had just found a Gundam Meister.

Now the only problem is to somehow convince her to join Celestial Being… but I didn't know that the solution to that would be practically handed to me on a silver platter, so to speak.

* * *

Several hours after the party, I was busy packing my bag when Lynette walked into my room, carrying her own bag that was already packed.

"Yoshika…?" Lynette's voice caught my attention, and I looked up to see her standing at the doorway.

"Ah, Lynne… Is there something that you needed?" I asked my first true friend in the 501st.

"Well…" Lynette poked her fingers together shyly now, and I found it quite cute. "I-If you have the time… then would you like me to show you around Britannia?"

She wanted to take me on a tour of Britannia? Well, that was thoughtful of her; I wasn't able to when Mio took me to one of her meetings.

"Thanks, Lynne! I'd be happy to!" I answered honestly. "Just let me get finished packing first."

For some reason, Lynette looked relieved at my answer. Was she afraid that I'd turn her down or something? She nodded, then stepped out of my room to wait for me to finish.

Not wanting to keep her waiting, I quickly finished packing my bag before picking up a photo. Looking at it, my eyes softened as a small smile graced my lips.

It was a photo of mine and Sanya's birthday party.

'_Who would've thought that our birthdays were on the exact same day?'_ I thought to myself as I put the photo in my bag as well. Looking around to make sure I packed everything, I gave a satisfied nod and picked up my bag, walking out of the room as I did so.

Lynette was waiting for me, as I had thought she would. "Ready to go?" She asked. Was it just me, or was she really excited about showing me around her homeland?

I nodded, and the two of us started towards the front entrance of the base.

It's been three days since the 501st JFW was disbanded, and Lynette and I were currently in London as the two of us looked around the city. When I asked her to give me a tour of said city, she only blushed in embarrassment and said that she's never been to London before.

Currently, we were sitting in a café eating some Britannian cuisine when I caught something in my peripheral vision. Turning my head to get a better view of it, I found out that it was some kind of large clock tower.

"Hey, Lynne? What's that building over there?" I asked my friend while pointing at the tower.

Lynette took one look at the tower before her eyes lit up. "That's Big Ben! It's one of London's most famous historical landmarks!" she exclaimed in excitement, something that caused me to giggle internally at her interest in history.

'_It's just like I am when it comes to the Gundams…'_ I thought to myself in amusement as I listened to her change the topic to Britannia's history.

We talked about various things for over an hour before I paid the bill for our food and the two of us left the café, and now we were currently on a train headed deeper into Britannia.

"Oh… _wow_…" I muttered in amazement at the beautiful countryside that was passing by the window as the train steamed along at a brisk pace; being raised in the far reaches of space (in Jupiter's orbit, to be exact), one learns to really appreciate the scenery that Earth has to offer. "I wish the others could see this!" By 'others', I was referring to my comrades in Celestial Being.

Apparently, Lynette thought I was talking about the Witches of the 501st, as she became depressed. "Yeah… but they were disbanded because of us…"

I sighed, and decided to drop the first hint about the organization I work for. "Even if the 501st wasn't disbanded, my assignment to them would have only been temporary."

Lynette, as expected, looked at me in surprise. "…What do you mean by 'temporary'?"

"I'll… tell you another time." I answered.

My best friend's eyes narrowed in suspicion, a reaction that I was hoping to see.

* * *

Over the next month as we travelled around Britannia, I would occasionally drop a hint or two about Celestial Being, over time building up Lynette's suspicion and curiosity.

We were now in a small town located at the base of the Grampian Mountains, staying at a motel for a night before continuing on our travels. The motel may not be much, but it offered a great view of the Grampian Mountains.

I was looking out the window at the mountains that were illuminated by the setting sun, still taking in their beauty so that I can remember them when I went back to space, when Lynette walked out of the bathroom wearing her pajamas. Turning around, I was greeted with the sight of my best friend looking at me like she wanted answers.

I smiled internally. _'It's time.'_

"Listen, Yoshika…" she started. "Over the last month, you've been telling me things that don't make a lot of sense. 'My assignment to the 501st would have only been temporary', 'Seeking peace through the Dialogues-to-Come', 'Guide humanity through Reformation'. And just last week, you told me that you were actually infiltrating the 501st to seek someone who had the capabilities to change the world! Just… who are you, really?"

I sighed; I knew this moment would come, but I was still slightly nervous. "Lynne… Like I said; even if the 501st wasn't disbanded, I would have had to leave eventually. And about the Dialogues-to-Come, you've already seen an almost successful attempt a month ago."

Lynette was confused about that, and started thinking about what I meant. After a few seconds, her eyes widened. "You mean… when you nearly made contact with the Neuroi?"

I nodded, glad that she figured it out in a relatively short amount of time. "Exactly. Now about guiding humanity through Reformation, I can't exactly tell you that right at this moment." Here, she looked slightly mad, so I decided to give her another answer. "Now… as for me infiltrating the 501st, and I assure you that it's all in goodwill, it's exactly as I said; I'm seeking those who have the capabilities to change the world. And I believe I found the person who I've been looking for."

I can see that Lynette was confused again. "So… why are you still here with me then? Shouldn't you be with that person then?"

I blinked at her question, before I started laughing, much to her shock.

"W-What's so funny?!" my best friend shouted at me.

After a few minutes, I managed to calm myself down. "L-Lynne… to be perfectly honest, it's you."

It took several seconds for Lynette to process what I just said, but when it clicked, she panicked. "E-EEHHH?! M-M-Me?! B-But what about the others; they're more skilled than I am!"

I chuckled at her reaction. "I've been looking for certain traits, ones that you have in spades that the others lack… traits that those I work for take top priority in."

"What kind of traits do I have…?" she asked hesitantly.

I internally smiled. _'Looks like she's already half-tempted… I guess she likes being useful for those who have good intentions.'_ "Those two traits are kindness, and a desire to seek a peaceful end to conflicts."

Lynette's eyes widened as she thought about what I had said. "… Will I really be able to help out that much…?"

I nodded and gave her a sincere smile.

She looked like she was hesitating for a few minutes, before she finally said the words I've been waiting to hear. "Can I… join you?"

My smile broadened at her question. "I'd be more than happy if you joined." I stretched out my hand to her, and she replied by stretching out her hand as well, and grasped mine.

"So… how do we get to the ones that you work for?" Lynette asked.

"Get some rest, Lynne; tomorrow, we're going on a hike."

* * *

It was mid-afternoon the next day, and the two of us were hiking up one of the mountains in the Grampian mountain range.

"Why do we have to climb one of these mountains again?" Lynette asked.

I sighed, but answered her nonetheless. "The organization I work for possesses highly advanced technology, and I'd rather not tip off anyone else that we exist just yet; the reason we're climbing a mountain is so that one of our Meisters can pick us up without alerting any of the locals."

Lynette nodded at the answer when apparently she realized something. "Wait. 'Meister' means 'master' in Karlslandian. Does that mean…?"

I cut her off. "No; the organization I work for is not based in Karlsland. You could say… that they're out of this world."

Lynette gave me a confused look, but she decided to not question it.

Several hours later, we found a cave on the opposite side of the mountain and were currently resting there as the two of us were drenched in sweat, panting in exhaustion.

I really needed a shower once I finally returned home.

"Lynne… are you alright…?" I asked, still panting from exhaustion.

"Y-Yeah… just tired… is all…" she replied.

"G-Good… I need to… make a call…"

Lynette, even though she was exhausted, looked at me incredulously. "How are you… going to do that when… we're in the middle of a mountain?!"

I gave an exhausted smirk, and pulled out a communication device that I had kept within a hidden pocket in my bag. "With this." I pressed a button and a holographic screen popped into existence, getting a shocked look from Lynette. "Yoshika to home base. Can you hear me?"

"_Reading you five-by-five. What is it that you need?"_ the voice of an older woman asked as her face appeared in the screen.

"Requesting pickup of myself and a potential Meister. General location is with the Grampian Mountains. Exact location will be provided by QBW."

"_Roger that. Setsuna will pick you up within a few hours."_ With that said, the link was cut and the holographic screen flickered away.

I put away the comm device and turned to Lynette, fully expecting the shocked look she was giving me.

"W…What was that thing?" she asked.

"That was a Wireless Holographic Communicator, a solar-powered variant for use on Earth." I answered. "They're pretty much standard issue."

Her eyes widened even more when I told her that it was standard issue, but she then adopted a confused expression when she remembered something. "What's… QBW?"

"Oh, that? It's an acronym that stands for…" here, my eyes started glowing a golden color as I sent the rest of the answer directly into her mind. _"… Quantum Brainwaves."_

* * *

It was now nightfall, and the two of us were standing near the mouth of the cave holding onto our bags. I glanced at Lynette; her expression alone told me that she was nervous, but I was glad that she had finally gotten over her shock over everything I had told her, including me being a Purebred Innovator.

But if she thought the surprises were over, then she had another thing coming.

"Umm… Yoshika? Where is this Setsuna person?" she asked me.

I gave her a reassuring smile as I spotted a glint of green light far up into the sky. "He's coming… he'll be here within ten minutes." I answered her as my eyes glowed a golden color again as I sent out my quantum brainwaves in a manner similar to that of a beacon, and was pleased to get a response from Setsuna's QBW. Several minutes later, I could see the light flying closer to our location.

Apparently Lynette finally looked in the direction I was and took notice of the light that was approaching, even as the distinct sound of the GN Drives reached our ears. I smiled at the familiar sound and sight.

"What is that…?" Lynette asked.

"That…" I answered. "Is the GNT-0000…"

As I said this, the form of Setsuna's Gundam became fully visible as it began lowering to the ground in front of us.

"… Gundam 00 Qan[T]."

As if responding to my statement, the eyes of the Gundam flashed their electric blue color as it touched down onto the ground.

I looked at Lynette, and saw that was looking at the Gundam in shock, awe, and wonder at the exact same time.

A hatch opened on the torso of the Qan[T] and a zip-line was lowered to the ground.

I walked over to where the zip-line was hanging off the ground and looked over at Lynette. "Well? Are you coming?"

Lynette looked at me in shock for a few seconds, before steeling herself and walking over to me. I wrapped one around her waist while grabbing the zip-line with the other while putting my foot into the stirrup. "Hold onto me tightly, Lynne."

She nodded and did so, and as soon as she did the zip-line was winched up to the cockpit. When we reached the cockpit, I saw Setsuna giving Lynette a curious yet critical look. It was a good thing I had given her a long skirt to wear to spare her any humiliation, and I was wearing one as well.

Lynette started to look uncomfortable from the look Setsuna was giving her, so I gently nudged her to go inside. She reluctantly did so, apparently still having a hard time believing that she was actually entering the cockpit of something as advanced as the 00 Qan[T]. Once she was inside, I climbed inside as well, and the two of us settled ourselves in the left and right areas of the now-cramped area as the hatch closed and sealed itself. With that done, Setsuna rose the Gundam off the ground and flew it up so that it was approximately 100 meters off the ground. After that, he activated the Quantum System, and the GN Sword Bits came off of the left shoulder-mounted shield and arranged themselves in a large circle, creating a Quantum Gate as they did so. Lynette looked at the GN portal in awe, but wasn't given a lot of time to do so when the Gundam suddenly went through it, shortly followed by the Sword Bits, which had the effect of closing the portal.

When the 00 Qan[T] exited the portal, Setsuna recalled his Sword Bits as Lynette was looking at the view screen in shock.

Apparently, she didn't expect to be in deep space… or rather, in Jupiter's orbit as she was now openly gaping at the gas giant.

I gave a soft chuckle in amusement, and even Setsuna had a faint smirk on his face before it was replaced with his usual stoic expression. I guess being sociable still wasn't Setsuna's strong point.

Anyway, Setsuna proceeded to fly the Gundam towards our base, and after a few minutes of flight, "We've arrived."

Lynette looked around, but didn't see anything at all. That is, until what looked to be a large hatch opened up out of nowhere like a set of double doors that slid into the wall, much to her shock. Setsuna eased the 00 Qan[T] through the corridor designed for Mobile Suits as the hatch closed behind him and eventually entered through another hatch, only to be greeted by yet another hatch. He stopped his Gundam in between the two hatches as the one behind him closed and sealed itself shut, after which the hatch in front of him opened to reveal a small hangar that held the three other Gundams that were used by the current generation of Gundam Meisters.

The first machine was colored white and deep green, and had what looked like boxes (but were in reality GN Holster Bits, which each stored a single GN Pistol Bit/Rifle Bit II) that were arranged as wings on its back, as well as four more Holster Bits that were mounted on its shoulders. In addition, it had integrated GN Missile Pods all over its body, but these were currently folded away. On its head, legs and shoulders were were targeting sensors that assisted the unit when engaging multiple enemies at once, but these were also folded away. This machine is the GN-010 Gundam Zabanya.

The second machine was colored white and orange, and unlike the other two machines that it was next to, it actually looked like a fighter. On either side of the red-glass "cockpit" (which in reality, was a sensor array) were two huge GN Cannons that were capable of firing large beams with only a small time lag in between shots. on top of the fuselage were two white hatches that each stored five GN Scissor Bits. There was a pair of armored GN Boosters at the rear of the craft, which each held five more GN Scissor Bits, giving the unit access to a total of twenty Scissor Bits. In between the boosters was a Tail Unit that stored numerous GN Missiles. Its wings were actually GN Sword Rifles, which were currently folded so as to not take up so much space. This machine is the GN-011 Gundam Harute in it's Fighter Mode.

The third machine had mostly bulky white armor, but some purple could be seen in the gap that was in the middle of the chest. In its right hand, it was holding onto a GN Bazooka of a similar make to the one used by the GN-005 Gundam Virtue, but there were some slight design changes, one of which was that the bazooka itself now had its own GN Drive to power it. On top of the machine were two more bazookas, which were of a similar type used by the GN-008RE Seravee Gundam II. In addition, there are several particle vents mounted throughout its armor which allows the unit to produce a GN Field. This machine is the CB-002/GD Raphael Gundam Dominions.

Lynette was looking at the three other Gundams in awe as Setsuna smoothly guided the 00 Qan[T] into its designated berthing, and I smiled at Lynette as the cockpit's hatch opened and Setsuna allowed us to get out first.

I said four words to her… the same four words that I was told that Linda said to me and Michiko when we first arrived. "Welcome to Celestial Being."

* * *

**A.N.: I would like to thank P4Nd0RaS for helping me with the editing and the suggestions. This never would have been written without his guidance, so I would like to say thank you again for all of the help you've given me!**

**And to those who have been waiting for the rewrite, wait no more! I think I've found my muse again and I've already got plans laid out for the next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2: Prelude to Conflict

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 2: Prelude to Conflict**

* * *

_Yoshika's POV_

"Celestial… Being…? Lynette asked me, even as she stared at the three Gundam units through the display of the 00 Qan[T]'s cockpit as Setsuna exited the machine and kicked off, floating towards the hangar's main entrance.

Lynette climbed out of the 00 Qan[T]'s cockpit, and was caught off-guard as she found herself slowly floating deeper into the hangar. I laughed slightly to myself, and pushed off the Gundam to catch her, my momentum taking us right towards the Zabanya. Grabbing a hold of Lynette and touching down on one of the Zabanya's GN Holster Bits, I used it as a launch platform and redirected us towards the main doorway that led into the ship, where Setsuna was already at as he entered the open door, which closed behind him shortly afterwards. With a grace that could only be acquired through several years of growing up in this kind of environment, I managed to get the two of us on the ground in a standing position right next to the now-closed door.

Looking at my best friend, I saw that she was still disoriented from the lack of gravity. "You'll get used to it soon enough."

"How did you… move like that?" Lynette asked, surprised at how easily I had maneuvered without gravity.

"I was raised here most of my life, so I picked up the skill." I looked around the hangar, smiling fondly at the memories that I've accumulated within this enormous vessel that was built within an asteroid, even I sensed Lynette's shock.

"Y-You were _raised_ here?! This is amazing!" She exclaimed as I led her to the door. As it slid open, I saw three faces that I have been wanting to see for several months now.

"Mom! Dad! Micchi!" I exclaimed, pushing off the ground and tackling them in a hug; I had missed them during my time in the 501st.

"Ah! You're…" Lynette said as she remembered the first day that I had met the Witches of the 501st.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Lynette's POV_

_It was early morning when the morning horn went off, causing me to rise out of bed wearily._

'Another day…'_ I sighed to myself as I got out of bed and got dressed for the day. After doing so, I performed the morning rituals of brushing my teeth and tying my hair into a braid. _

_Before I could start wandering around the base in search of something to do, the base-wide P.A. speakers blared to life._

"_Attention all Witches," the voice of Wing Commander Minna said through the speakers, "Will you all please report to the briefing room for an important announcement."_

_Well, there go my plans for wandering around the base._

_Sighing to myself, I complied with Minna's request._

* * *

_I walked into the room, and wasn't surprised that mostly everyone else was there as well (including Major Mio Sakamoto, who had come back from Fuso yesterday). Taking a seat, I waited for the only person who had yet to arrive: Wing Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke. Hearing the door open, turned around to see that Minna had arrived… but there were four other people with her as well._

_The first person was a man who looked to be in his late fifties. He was wearing a white shirt with a light blue shirt underneath it, blue pants, and a pair of black shoes. He also had black hair, black eyes, and a pair of glasses. The second person was a woman who looked to be around her early thirties. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and was also wearing a pair of glasses. Her clothes consisted of a green shirt, a metallic light blue skirt that went to her knees, and a pair of brown shoes that were similar in design to those worn by the first person._

_The third person was a girl who looked to be around my age. She was wearing a white shirt, the same skirt that the blonde woman was wearing, only made for someone her size, and a pair of brown shoes. She also had long dark blue hair and brown eyes. The fourth and final person was also a girl who appeared to be slightly younger than the other girl. She was wearing a blue shirt and, again, the same skirt that the other two were wearing, only resized for someone like her, as well as a pair of brown shoes. She also had short brown hair and a pair of hazel nut eyes that for some reason I seemed to be slightly drawn to._

_As Minna walked up to the front of the room, the girl with the short brown hair followed her, while the other three people stayed at the back of the room, leading me to believe that the girl with Minna was a new recruit._

_My hunch was proven right as Minna clapped her hands twice to get our attention and began speaking. "Okay, everyone! Attention! Once again, allow me to introduce our new recruit. Brought to us by Major Sakamoto from the Fuso Empire. This is Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti."_

_Another new recruit? Well, looks like I'm not the only resident rookie around here anymore._

"_I'm Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti. It's nice to meet you, everyone!" the girl, who I now knew was Yoshika, introduced herself._

"_Her rank is Sergeant. Lynne, since she's the same rank as you, look after her." Minna said to me._

_Wait… she wanted _me_ to look after her?! Not wanting to anger her, I only nodded._

_Seeing my acceptance, she smiled, turned towards Yoshika and continued speaking. "All the documents, clothing, rank insignia and identification you need are in here…" _

_At this point, the newcomer took notice of the box she was going to receive, as well as the gun on top of it. However, her attention diverted to the Witches that were in the room… and she looked to be disturbed by something. She turned towards Minna, and asked a question that I don't think any of the Witches, including me, were expecting. _

"_Why aren't you all wearing any pants?!"_

That_ caught us off-guard, and Minna (after getting over her shock) gave the answer. "The reason why we don't wear any pants is because the Striker Units require direct skin contact to perform at their maximum efficiency; and since the Neuroi may show up at any time, we decided to forego wearing any pants so that we can get up into the air as quickly as possible."_

_I glanced back for a moment to see that the three people (who still haven't introduced themselves) looked deeply disturbed, and I saw that Yoshika looked horrified when I turned back to look at her._

"_WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU FOREGO WEARING ANY PANTS?!" Yoshika screamed in panic, causing most of us to cover our ears momentarily. "Can't you at least wear a skirt to help conserve your modesty?!"_

_Mio laughed heartily, finding the situation amusing. "Oh, she fascinates me."_

_I don't think Perrine liked that, and she slammed her hands onto her table and sat up. "Oh, come on!" she yelled._

_Yoshika looked at Perrine in surprise, before she asked a question I didn't think _anyone_ had the guts to ask her. "What's got your panties tied in a bunch?"_

_My jaw dropped, and I was sure that this happened to several of the others in the room as well. Perrine, however only got even angrier and stormed out of the room._

_The room was filled with complete silence for a full minute before Yoshika turned towards Minna and asked her a question. "Was it her time of the month or something?"_

_The dam broke._

_Shirley, Eila, Lucchini, and Erica started howling with laughter at her boldness, while the rest of us gawked at her._

* * *

_Several minutes later when everything had calmed down, several of the Witches had surrounded the newcomer as Minna had begun talking with the three people in the back… and I decided to listen in for a moment._

"_So, mind telling me who you three are?" Minna asked them._

"_The name's Ian Vashti," the man, who I now knew was named Ian, introduced himself, before doing the same with the other two. "This here is my wife, Linda Vashti. And this squirt here is Michiko Yamakawa Vashti."_

"_Quit calling me 'squirt'!" the girl known as Michiko yelled at him. "I'm a big girl now!"_

_Ian laughed. "It doesn't matter how old you'll get; you'll always be my little squirt."_

_Linda giggled as she nodded in agreement._

'So that's her family…'_ I thought to myself as Yoshika approached me._

"_Umm… excuse me, but who are you?"_

_Not expecting it, I squeaked in surprise and turned around, only to see that Yoshika was giggling at my reaction. "Y-Yes…?" _

"_I asked you who you are."_

_Oh… she wanted to know my name? Well, I might as well answer her. "I'm Lynette Bishop… it's nice to meet you, Yoshika."_

_I didn't know it yet, but I had just met my first true friend._

_Flashback End_

* * *

_Yoshika's POV_

I broke the hug and turned towards Lynette, who was looking at my parents and cousin (and sister by adoption) in shock.

"But… why are the three of you here?" she asked them in shock.

"You mean Yoshika didn't tell you?" Ian asked, before answering her question. "My wife and I are the head engineers of Celestial Being, and Michiko here is an apprentice as well as our assistant."

Before Lynette could ask any more questions, I grabbed her hand and led her through the door. "I'll explain things to you later, Lynne… but for now I'd like to take you on a tour."

* * *

It's been an hour ever since I've begun showing my best friend around my home, and we've stopped by several places, including the gravity block where the rooms for everyone on the ship were (and where we will be sharing a room as well, and the two of us changed into space suits while we were there; Lynette's was the standard white while mine was blue), the central cafeteria where people converse over their meals, and the greenhouse where the ship's oxygen is generated and food is grown; although we occasionally take a few trips to Earth to restock on food, we only do once every few months when our supplies start running dangerously low.

Now, as we were on our way to the main observation deck, the two of us passed by a window that Lynette looked through… and she stopped herself to get a better look at what she was seeing.

On the other side of the glass was a huge room which held a large sphere that was adorned with glowing blue circles.

"Yoshika… what is _that_?" Lynette asked me.

Confused, I turned back to see that she was looking through a glass window, and then realized where _exactly_ in the ship we were currently at. Stopping my motion and pushing myself back towards her, I explained. "_That_, Lynne, is the heart of this entire ship… Quantum Processing System, Veda." I stopped my motion so that I was standing right next to her, and gazed at the main terminal of VEDA.

"The heart of the ship… Veda… hmm?" Lynette said to herself, before something got her attention.

Within Veda's main terminal room were several people… and they all had the same face, hair color, and hair style.

"What the- They have the same face?!" she exclaimed in shock.

I chuckled. "Those are bio-terminals called Innovades. I'll explain it to you in a bit; there's another place I want you to see."

Lynette wasn't responding, so I snapped my fingers in front of her face to get her attention. Seeing her jolt from that action, I grabbed her hand and gently led her away from her current source of confusion.

A while later, the two of us reached the door that led to the main observation deck. "Here it is, Lynne… one of my favorite places on the ship." With that said, I walked towards the door, triggering it to open as I led my best friend inside.

The main observation deck was a favorite place for stressed people to come and relax, and for a good reason; the view of the infinite cosmos proved to be soothing on the mind. The fact that Jupiter is also partially visible and that music meant to soothe the soul was always playing were also factors that helped relieve stress. Inside the deck were several chairs and tables, as well as a few loveseats, a bar with a few stools, and several Holo-TV's as well. But I was taken by surprise when I found out that we weren't alone.

Inside the observation deck, there was one other person who was also admiring the view, but that person's attention shifted to us as soon as we entered the room. The person was a girl who had faded blonde hair and eyes that were colored a teal blue color. She was also wearing the standard white Celestial Being space suit, as well as a pair of aviator goggles that were resting on top of her head.

I blinked, not recognizing the apparent newcomer when the girl raised her hand in greeting. "You two new here as well?" She asked in a cheerful manner.

"Who are you?" I asked back.

"The name's Carla Luksic. I was a Flying Officer in the 506th Joint Fighter Wing's B-unit, and now a potential Gundam Meister of Celestial Being after being scouted by a man named Allelujah Haptism around seventeen days ago. Nice to meet'cha!" the second girl, who I now knew was Carla, introduced herself cheerfully.

I nodded at the newcomer, knowing that Allelujah was, until recently, on a scouting mission to find new potential Gundam Meisters.

"U-Umm, nice to meet you! I'm Lynette Bishop, a former Witch of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing." Lynette introduced herself. "I was scouted into Celestial Being by Yoshika here."

When she said that, Carla's attention turned directly towards me. Well, I might as well introduce myself. "I'm Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti, a Gundam Meister of Celestial Being and a former temporary recruit of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing."

Carla looked like she was shocked. "Wait, you're already a Gundam Meister?! How'd you get such a big head-start on us?!" And by that, I think she was referring to herself and Lynette.

I was about to tell her when my PDA sounded out an alert. Pulling it out of my pocket, I looked at the message that was displayed and smiled after a few seconds. "We'll talk later; we're to report to the Mobile Suit Simulation Room at 1930 hours." Seeing their confused faces, I elaborated. "7:30 P.M. In other words; thirty minutes. Follow me; I'll take us there."

Twenty-five minutes later, the three of us were at the door that led to the simulators, and I saw a familiar face waiting for us. "Neferu Naguib… So I take it you're the one who will be teaching them the basics?" I asked the pilot of one of the GNX-903VS Brave Standard Test Types that were on the vessel.

The former member of the old ESF nodded, then turned her gaze to the two potential Gundam Meisters.

I nodded right back. "In that case, I'll stay and help out as well; Lynne will need some help with adjusting to her new environment."

Neferu apparently didn't see any problems with it. "Fine by me." After voicing her approval to me, she turned towards the other two. "Follow me; we'll now begin basic Mobile Suit operation lessons."

She walked through the doorway that led to the MS simulators as the three of us followed her.

* * *

The next few hours were full of questions from the new potential Meisters as they began their crash-course on how to pilot a Mobile Suit. In the simulators, they learned some of the controls, a few MS terms, and, to mine and Neferu's pleasant surprise, they managed to get their simulation SMVS-01 Union Flags to walk a few steps forward before they stumbled and fell over, ending the simulation.

Now, after the first day of training with the simulators was over, the two new recruits and I were in the mess hall eating dinner, while Neferu and the other surviving members of the SolBraves went out on a patrol run.

"So, Yoshika… how did you become a Gundam Meister? You never answered my question from earlier today." Carla asked me curiously.

This got the attention of Lynette, as she turned their attention towards me.

"Well… about that…" I scratched the back of my head sheepishly as I recalled what I was doing when I first wanted to be a Meister. "It was around nine years ago when I first wanted to be a Meister. Micchi and I were watching some of the past missions that the previous Gundam Meisters had participated in, and we were in awe with their combat skill. And… well…"

"And… what?" Carla asked me curiously.

I couldn't continue; it would have been embarrassing if they knew.

Unfortunately for me, Mom just so happened to be listening in on our conversation, and she picked up where I left off. "And I just so happened to catch the two of them while they were being adorable." Linda said as she came into the group, much to my horror.

"What do you mean?" Lynette asked, as Carla nodded as she too wanted to know.

"Mom, please don't…" I tried, but she wouldn't listen.

The yellow Haro she was holding extended a cord, which she plugged into the PDA that she kept on her at all times. Sifting through several files, she finally found the video that her personal Haro had kept saved from all those years ago. Uploading it to her PDA, Linda turned the screen around to allow the others to see.

* * *

_Video_

_General POV_

_Linda had just walked into the room where Yoshika and Michiko were waiting for her, when she saw what could only be a strange sight._

_Yoshika and Michiko were jumping around the walls and ceiling with the gravity generator that was under the room turned off, swinging what appeared to be small cardboard strips at each other like swords, while they also each held a pillow that they were using as a shield._

"… _Might I ask what you are doing?" Linda asked curiously, wondering what her adoptive children were up to._

_The two kids, momentarily distracted by their mother's voice, accidentally slammed into each other at high speed; fortunately, their pillows acted as bumpers, so they were only dazed momentarily._

"_Mama!" Yoshika exclaimed. "Look, I'm Exia!" To prove her point, she swung around the piece of cardboard a few times before saying "I am Gundam!" and laughing as she did so._

_Michiko took this opportunity to bounce off the wall and charged straight for Yoshika with a playful shout, causing her to spin around and block her older cousin's swing with her pillow._

"_I'm Graham Aker, a man who's obsessed with everything you are!" Michiko yelled playfully, before the two began their "fight" again._

"…" _Linda didn't know what to say as she watched the spectacle._

_Anew, who had followed her to check up on the kids, only had one thing to say. "How adorable…"_

_The blonde Vashti couldn't agree more._

_Video End_

* * *

_Yoshika's POV_

I was blushing in embarrassment as Mom showed them the video, and at the end of it the two potential Meisters were looking at me with varying levels of amusement. All I could do was cover my face with my hands in a futile attempt to hide my embarrassed look.

"Aww~! Don't be shy now!" My Mom cooed at me like she was talking to a baby.

Carla, apparently, decided to go along with the act. "It's all right, little one~! I'll go get you some milk right away~!"

I couldn't take it; I bolted from the mess hall and headed straight for my room.

* * *

Over the next few months, the new Meisters have improved their skill drastically under the supervision of myself and various other teachers, including Neferu Naguib, Tieria Erde, Lyle Dylandy, Allelujah Haptism, Some Peries, and Setsuna F. Seiei (although he was a rare case). During the time I wasn't training the rookie Meisters, I was either hanging out with them, or helping the Engineering Department with developing new upgrades for the Mobile Suits that were within the ship.

It was now the fourth month of Lynette's and Carla's training, and the two of them were progressing quickly.

"Yoshika…?" I heard Lynette's voice ask me as she entered the room we shared, while I was looking at the recent reports about what was happening on Earth.

"Yes, Lynne? What is it?" I asked her back as I finished reading another report on my PDA and closed the file, after which I turned my attention towards her.

"Will we be heading out soon?" Ah, so that's what she wanted to know.

"We're currently gathering as much information as we can to assess the situation." I answered. "Once we learn as much as we can, we'll be able to plan our next move."

I felt Lynette take a seat on the edge of the bed next to me. "Will we… be able to help the people back on Earth soon?" she asked uncertainly.

"As much as I'd like to go and help them now, we can't; the Gundam units that our generation of Meisters will be using are still undergoing repairs and upgrades before they will be ready for combat, and revealing our presence now might cause for an unnecessary amount of panic. Not to mention that our new ship, the _Ptolemaios 3_, is still in the final phases of construction." I listed some of the reasons as to why we couldn't leave and help them just yet.

Lynette sighed sadly and leaned against me, to which I responded by wrapping my free arm around her in an attempt to comfort her, pulling her closer to me as I did so.

Stroking her hair gently, I continued to look at another report when I saw something that caught my attention.

It was another report from one of our spies on the ground: Takei Junko. The report explained what's been happening on the ground concerning politics, and something caught me by surprise; apparently, the military took notice of my attempt of the Dialogues-to-Come, and had decided to try and do the same thing in an operation codenamed "Operation Trajanus," which was scheduled to take place in a month.

Closing the file and setting my PDA on the desk that was next to my side of the bed, I noticed that Lynette had fallen asleep against my shoulder. Smiling softly at the sight, I decided that it was time for me to get to sleep as well.

"Haro, can you please reduce the gravity to 10% for a few minutes?" I asked my light blue Haro companion, looking at it as I did so.

"NO PROBLEM! NO PROBLEM!" The Haro replied, accessing the room's gravity control systems and reducing the output of the gravity generators to 10%.

Feeling much lighter, I easily lifted Lynette up without waking her, and laid her down on the bed that we shared. Tucking the two of us in, I let Haro know that it was alright to increase the gravity back to normal. Feeling the weight return, I sighed as sleep started to take hold of me.

"Good night, everyone…" I managed to say while yawning.

"GOOD NIGHT! GOOD NIGHT!" My Haro companion answered, already in its recharging port. The Haro shut down and went to "sleep."

Lynette didn't answer me verbally, but instead she snuggled up against me as she slept.

As I did the same, I felt the world slip away as I fell into blissful sleep.

* * *

The next morning, I was woken up by my Haro's jumping on my chest. Yawning tiredly, I made to swat it away.

"COMPLETED LAST NIGHT! COMPLETED LAST NIGHT!" It exclaimed.

I groaned, trying to fall back asleep, but the Haro was persistent on keeping me up. "What…?" I managed to ask after a few moments.

Let it be known that I was never good with mornings… and judging by the clock next to my bed, it's only 4:14 A.M. Yup, I wasn't ready to get up just yet.

"GUNDAMS COMPLETE! GUNDAMS COMPLETE!" The annoying robotic ball shouted at me.

"Eh…?" I managed to get out… Wait a minute…

Did Haro just say what I think it just said?

"Say that again?!" I shot up out of bed, now wide awake.

"GUNDAMS COMPLETE! GUNDAMS COMPLETE!" It said out loud again.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" I exclaimed, scrambling to my dresser and changing out of my night clothes into something proper to wear.

Apparently, all of the commotion seemed to wake up Lynette. "Nnn… Yoshika..? What's wrong…?" She asked me tiredly.

"Lynne, hurry up! Get up and get dressed, pronto!" I said while struggling to put on my space suit, eager to go see our newly upgraded and completed units.

All Lynette did was yawn tiredly as she rubbed some sleep out of her eyes. "Yoshika… what's going on…?"

I turned around to face her, with stars shining in my eyes. "Our Gundam units have just been completed!" I exclaimed in excitement.

* * *

Three hours later, Lynette, Carla, Michiko and I were at the entrance to one of the hangars aboard the _Celestial Being_ – or more specifically, the Engineering Department – and I was eager to see the Gundams that we would be assigned to pilot.

The only thing keeping us from seeing them was the fact that Mom and Dad wanted to be here as well, to explain the specs of our new Gundams.

I was now squirming in anticipation when Mom and Dad finally showed up.

"Can we see them now?!" I asked, eagerly.

The two laughed at my eagerness to see the new units. "I think we've held you up long enough." Dad said as he ruffled my hair a little bit, causing me to pout.

"Dad, must you really do that?" I asked him.

"Enough, you two." Apparently, Mom decided to intervene before an argument broke out. "Let's go; Billy and Mina are already waiting for us inside."

That made me calm down as the main doors to the hangar our Gundams were in opened, allowing the six of us to enter.

When we did, I was surprised to find that it was dark inside, with only a small amount of light for us to follow. Doing so, we came across two people that I happened to be great friends with.

The first person was a man who appeared to be in his late thirties. He had long brown hair tied in a long ponytail, as well as black eyes. The second person was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties, just a few years younger than the first person. She had red hair, as well as eyes that were colored like amber. Both of them were wearing white Celestial Being space suits with a special patch on their shoulders, indicating that they worked at Krung Thep, one of Celestial Being's main research and development facilities. These two people were Billy Katagiri and Mina Carmine Katagiri.

"Billy! Mina! Long time no see!" I yelled, waving at the two.

The two turned from the screen that they were facing, directing their attention to us. "Ah, you're here." Billy said with a smile.

"Yoshika, it's been a while!" Mina exclaimed, enveloping me in a hug, which I returned.

When we separated, Billy cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone else present. "Now, I believe it's time we showed you why you've all gathered here." After saying that, he used his PDA to send a command to the hangar's lighting system, causing one of the lights to suddenly turn on. Caught off-guard at the sudden brightness, I covered my eyes and allowed them to adjust to the new light. When they did, I looked up as I noticed a giant shadow in front of me… and I froze at the sight.

In front of me was a massive blue and white machine that was around 18 meters tall. In its right hand was what looked like an upgraded version of the GN Sword Kai, and on the left arm was a shield that looked like it was also a weapon in itself. On the back of its shoulders were two GN beam sabers, and attached to the waist were two GN beam daggers. To my surprise, there were two familiar black curved swords that were mounted on the unit's back, as well as a GN Long Blade on the right hip and a GN Short Blade on the left hip. On the lower left arm was a weapon which I could identify as a Plasma Sword that was most likely taken from a Flag. There were also two wrist-mounted GN Vulcans, and what looked like a GN Smokescreen Emitter if my guess about the two small containers on top of the shoulders was accurate. But none of these weapons were what shocked me… it was the machine itself, one that I had come to see as one of my favorite of all the Gundams.

"Exia…" I whispered out the name of the Gundam.

"Not exactly the Exia as you know it." Billy began explaining. "This is the GN-001REIV Gundam Exia Repair IV, a revamped version of the Exia R3. Its weapons include the GN Sword Kai II, four beam sabers of which two are mounted in the feet," That took me by surprise; the only other Gundam unit that I knew of that had beam sabers in that area was the Arche Gundam. "Two beam daggers, the GN Long Blade and GN Short Blade, a GN Melee Shield that is armed with a Rocket-Propelled E-Carbon Anchor Claw along with eight plasma exploding knives and twelve GN shuriken that explode upon impact, a smokescreen emitter, a backup Plasma Sword from a Union Flag for emergency situations, and the Shiranui and Unryu GN blades which can be combined to form the Souten."

The last two sets of weapons shocked me greatly, as I now recognized the two black curved blades; how did he know that those two specific swords were among my favorite MS weapons, as well as the Flag being my favorite of all the NGN Mobile Suits?

"And before you ask, Neferu told me all about the duels you two have with each other on the simulators… as well as the fact that when you don't use a Gundam unit, you tend to use either one of the Flag variants or the Susanowo." Billy answered as he sensed my unasked question.

Ah… so that's how he knows. Thinking back on it, I don't think me and Neferu (who I honestly see as an aunt of sorts) have ever beaten each other before; we always end up in a draw, although I still suspect she was going easy on me during the first ten to fifteen times we went against each other.

"But… who's going to pilot it?" I asked him.

"Who do you think?" Dad asked me back as he shot me a grin.

It took me three seconds to think it over before my eyes shot open. "Y-You mean… _me_?"

All I got was a nod in response.

"Yoshika, you're drooling." Mom said, quickly snapping me out of the trance I was just in.

"E-Eh?!" I exclaimed, checking to see if it was true. When I didn't feel any, I shot Mom a small glare to which she just giggled in response.

Billy chuckled at the display, before he walked to our right a dozen or so meters before stopping. The rest of us followed him, and when we stopped he turned on another set of lights. This time we were prepared, and we shielded our eyes as the lights turned on. After waiting for a few moments, we uncovered our eyes and looked up at the next Gundam unit.

It was a green and white machine that, like Exia, stood at around 18 meters tall. Attached to its right shoulder on a rotatable dock was what appeared to be an upgraded version of the GN Sniper Rifle. On its knees were two black boxes, which I knew were holsters for two GN Beam Pistols. Equipped to its left arm was a GN Small Shield, which seemed to have been upgraded. On the rear thrusters were two GN Beam Sabers, and on the front waist armor were four 4-tube GN missile launchers as well as two more 4-tube launchers in the knees, but these were currently folded away. I was surprised, however, when I noticed the weapon that attached to the Gundam's back; it looked like an assault rifle scaled up enough for a Mobile Suit to use. It may have looked a bit different, but I was able to identify the Gundam in question in an instant.

"The Dynames… but it's different…" I said out loud.

"It is." Mom decided to explain this time. "This is the GN-002REII Gundam Dynames Repair II, an upgraded version of the Dynames Repair. Its weapons include the GN Sniper Rifle Kai, two beam machine pistols, two beam sabers, 24 GN missiles located in six 4-tube missile launchers, and a GN Assault Rifle that has a faster rate of fire than a beam rifle but retains its power level per shot."

My eyes widened in shock at the last bit; how did they manage to make something like _that_?

Mom turned to Lynette as she continued. "Lynette, since you have the highest scores in long-range precision targeting, you will be piloting the Dynames."

I don't think Lynette was expecting that, as she began to stutter in surprise. "E-E-Eh?! Y-You mean… _I'm_ piloting it?!"

I shot Lynette a grin. "Why not, Lynne? I mean, you _are_ one of the best snipers I've ever seen!"

Lynette blushed at the praise, which I found to be quite cute. That was when I realized something.

"Hold on a minute. If I'm piloting the Exia," here I squirmed in excitement "…and Lynne's piloting the Dynames, then the other two machines must be the Kyrios and the Virtue."

Billy and Mina grinned. "And you would be right." The male Katagiri said as he walked over to another area and waited for us to follow him. Once we were with him again, he used a computer command to turn on all the remaining lights in the Krung Thep hangar. Once we adjusted to the brightness, we gazed at the last two units in the hangar.

The third unit, unlike the other three, looked like a fighter aircraft that was colored white and orange. Nestled within the nose of the craft was what looked like a large six-barreled Gatling gun, and there were two GN Submachine Guns mounted underneath the fuselage. Directly behind the green-glass "cockpit" (which, like the Harute, was really a sensor unit) were two yellow antennas that were slanted backwards. Attached to the rear of the unit were two GN Boosters that seemed to have been derived from the GN-003/af-G02 Gundam Kyrios Gust, but looked to have been upgraded. Mounted in between the two boosters was a Tail Unit similar to the one equipped to the Harute. On the right side of the fuselage was what looked like two beam rifles stacked together, and on the left was what I knew was a shield for the unit's MS Mode. This machine I was able to identify as the Kyrios, but I knew that it had been given a major overhaul.

The fourth unit sported armor that was much thicker than the other three, and it was painted in a black and white color scheme. On its shoulders were large black boxes that acted as GN Field emitters, and another pair of identical emitters were mounted on the sides of the legs. In its right hand was a large GN Bazooka, and on the sides of the waist were two 24-tube GN Missile Containers. There were two beam sabers mounted behind the waist, and there was another set of arms located on the front of the legs in a way similar to that of the Seravee Gundam which can act as either two GN Cannons or wield another set of beam sabers. There were four GN Panzer Faust located on both of the primary arms with two per arm, and on top of the left shoulder was a large GN Physical Bazooka. Directly below the missile containers were two more containers that I wasn't able to identify the purpose of. I was able to identify this machine as the Virtue, and I knew that underneath all that armor was the Nadleeh.

"The fighter on the left is the GN-003RE Gundam Kyrios Repair. Its weaponry consists of two GN Submachine guns, a twin beam rifle, a GN shield/heat blade combination, two beam sabers, a Tail Unit that can hold 14 missiles and 18 bombs at the same time, and a GN beam Gatling cannon that is only usable in Fighter Mode. This unit will be assigned to Carla." Ian explained, much to Carla's initial shock before she sported a large grin on her face, apparently at the thought of piloting the Kyrios. "The unit on the right is the GN-005RE Gundam Virtue Repair. Its armaments include a GN Bazooka, two 24-tube GN Missile Containers, two twin-barrel GN Cannons on the shoulders, four beam sabers of which two are hidden within the frontal arms that also act as another pair of GN Cannons, four GN Panzer Faust located on both primary arms with two per arm, a GN Physical Bazooka, and eight GN Fangs mounted below the missile containers. Michiko, you will be the Virtue's pilot." Michiko nodded, a wide grin on her face as she did so. Ian continued as he opened a holographic screen on his PDA, which showed a Gundam unit with significantly less armor than the Virtue. "Now, underneath all of that armor is the GN-004RE Gundam Nadleeh Repair. When deployed straight from the Virtue after purging the armor, its only weapons are two beam sabers and the two GN Cannons that were mounted on the Virtue's shoulders. If it is sent into battle as the Nadleeh, though, it can be equipped with a beam rifle, the GN Mask Sword, and the GN Centurion Shield."

"In addition," Mom took over explaining. "They're all equipped with the new 360-degree panoramic cockpits, a Veda-Based Operating System, a docking port in the cockpit for a Haro, Optical Camouflage, their own unique systems, and their combat performance can be tripled for a short amount of time by using the Trans-Am System."

That last one caused Lynette's breath to hitch, and it only took me a second to figure out why.

'_Crap,'_ I thought to myself. _'I haven't told the others yet…'_

"T…Trans… Am?" My Britannian friend asked Mom with a shaky voice, something that got the attention of the others.

"Is there… something wrong with that?" Billy asked her.

I sighed; might as well tell them now. "I managed to replicate Trans-Am using my magic."

_That_ stunned the adults into silence. It took ten seconds before anyone could reply. "You… did _what_?!" Dad asked me in shock.

"You managed to replicate it using magic?!" Billy exclaimed, to which I nodded in response.

"Would it be possible for you to show us?" Mina asked, curious about the prospect of a magic-powered Trans-Am.

"Yoshika, please don't!" Lynette yelled in a panic, and I knew the exact reason why.

"It's alright, Lynne." I reassured her. "I don't plan on ever doing that again." Lynette sighed in relief, while everyone else was confused. Seeing their confusion, I decided to elaborate. "After I first used it… I went into a coma for seven whole weeks, and it took me two and a half more weeks to recover." The last part was said to myself, but they heard it anyway.

Their horrified faces were all I needed to see to confirm that my message got across; I was NOT going to use my magic-version of Trans-Am ever again.

* * *

_Time-Skip: One Month Later_

Over the course of the month, Michiko, Carla, Lynette and I have improved our piloting skills, and have adapted them to our Gundams. As we were nearing the time for "Operation Trajanus" to take place, we were finishing up our training and loading up our newly completed ship on supplies. As we were loading our Gundams, I couldn't help but pause momentarily to take in the sight of our new ship, the CBS-78 _Ptolemaios 3_.

This ship looked nothing like the previous iterations of the _Ptolemaios_ series. First and foremost was its size; compared to the _Ptolemaios 2 Kai_ which was only 251 meters long, the _Ptolemaios 3_, which was colored in a white and red color scheme (with white on the top and red on the bottom), was an astounding 420 meters long. Secondly, it had two catapults arranged in such a way that it made the ship look like it had legs, and directly underneath the catapults were two GN Mega Particle Cannons, which were by far the most powerful beam weapons ever put on a ship (with the sole exception of the _Celestial Being_'s 80m Grade GN Laser). On top of the catapults were two GN Cannons, each with two barrels and a caliber of 225 cm. Underneath the middle of the ship was a set of enormous wings meant to give it lift when it's in the Earth's atmosphere. On the upper half of the ship slightly behind the wings was the bridge tower, on the back of which were two 8-tube GN Missile Launchers. At the rear of the vessel was a structure that was shaped like a "U", on the lower curved area of which were the six main GN Thrusters, and these were supplemented by six smaller GN Thrusters mounted on the wings, four more below and behind the GN Cannons, and eight more at the bottom rear of the "legs", bringing the total of supplemental thrusters up to eighteen. Additionally, there were numerous Course-Correction Purpose GN Micro-Thrusters located on several areas of the body. Extending from the back of the stern directly behind the dorsal wings and directly above the six main thrusters were two sections that extended backwards from the ship which were GN Large Missile Launchers, and there were multiple other missile launchers hidden across the hull of the ship. Mounted in several areas above and underneath the ship were a total of ten GN Beam Turrets, with five on the top and five on the bottom, as well as a total of six GN Flak Cannons, again with three on the top and the other three on the bottom. Lastly in the terms of weaponry, there were four GN Torpedo Launchers located directly between the two "legs" and the central area of the ship, with two launchers per side.

I smiled to myself as I walked the Exia onto the loading ramp and into the ship's cavernous hangar, where I could see several other units that have already been loaded.

The first unit was a Mobile Suit that had a very thin frame and was colored a light blue color. In the suit's right hand was a 200mm New Type Linear Rifle and, unlike other units from the series that it was based on, had two Defense Rods instead of the normal one. There were two Plasma Swords stored in its arms, and on its back was a booster for use in space. Next to the Mobile Suit was what looked like a flight pack that could be swapped with the booster at a moment's notice to allow the unit to operate in Earth's atmosphere. On the top of the head, I could see an orange stripe, which identified this unit as a drone. This unit I instantly identified as a SVMS-010A/MD Over Flag Astro Package Drone Type which was equipped with the Mobile Drone System, a system that was created a few years ago that allowed a Mobile Suit to move and fight without the need of a pilot; instead a high-performance computer, which is linked to VEDA, takes the place of the pilot.

The second unit was a Mobile Suit that looked to be of the same series as the first. Unlike normal units for the series that this Suit is based on, it was colored black due to the anti-beam coating that has been applied all over the frame. In its right hand was a weapon I was able to identify as the GN Sword II Kai, which had two built-in GN Beam Guns that were powered by a small GN Condenser. On its shoulders were two Short 120mm Linear Cannons. Mounted to the sides of the linear cannons were four GN Smokescreen Missiles, and another four were mounted on the legs, bringing the total up to eight. In addition, there were two Plasma Swords stored in the forearm storage compartments. On its back was a flight unit that was also coated with an anti-beam coating. This unit I was able to identify as the CBNGN-003 Union Flag Celestial Being Version, even though it's been modified to function in the Earth's atmosphere, as well as for fighting the Neuroi.

The next four units were all identical. They had a black torso, while the rest of the body was white. On their right knee was a single GN Beam Machine Gun, which is hand-carried by the unit when in use. Their heads were unlike most other MS heads I've seen before, consisting of a single green visor along with a pair of GN Vulcans. On the right clavicle of the suits were a single yellow antenna while on the left clavicle was a small sensor. Within the arms were two GN Beam Sabers, as well as two GN Cannons as well. A bit unfamiliar with the units, I searched through Exia's database, and found that the units were four GN-00902 SEM's that have been modified to use the new GN Drive Tau II's, which were an improved version of the GN Drive Tau I due to the fact that they have the Solar Energy System integrated into them.

The last two units looked like they were designed solely for long-range fire support. The units were purple in color, and had four GN Long Cannons on the front of the body. There were also two 2-tube GN Missile Launchers on the front skirt armor, as well as two Gatling guns on their arms. Their heads were somewhat similar to that of the SEM units, except that the visors were a pinkish-red color and didn't have the GN Vulcans. It took me a few seconds, but I was able to identify them as GNY-077MP/D GN Cannon Mass Production Drone Types, which have also been modified to be powered by the GN Drive Tau II's, as well as having the Mobile Drone System.

The additional units actually came as a surprise to me; I wasn't expecting that we would have support units with us, although I suspected that they would be mostly used to defend the ship.

Shaking my head, I continued to walk Exia to its assigned berthing, while Lynette, Carla, and Michiko followed behind me in their respective Gundam units. Although Lynette and Carla were still relatively new to piloting Mobile Suits, they were able to easily dock their Gundams to their respective berthing, while Michiko didn't have any problems at all despite being the pilot of something as big as the Virtue. Once our Gundams were docked, we opened the cockpits and lowered ourselves to the floor using the zip-lines due to the gravity that was present in the hangar.

Waiting for us was a woman who appeared to be in her mid-thirties. She had mid-length brownish-red hair and amber-colored eyes, as well as sizable bust that could give Shirley a run for her money. She was wearing a white shirt that was purple at the top with a green diamond shape in the middle, a small purple long-sleeved vest, jeans that were a metallic white on the outside and a metallic grey on the inside that were held up by a brown belt, black boots, and a pair of brown gloves. This woman was Sumeragi Lee Noriega. "Nice for you four to join me." Sumeragi said with a smile.

"Glad to be on board, Miss Sumeragi." I replied with a smile of my own as she began to lead the four of us out of the hangar and into the ship proper. "I take it we're headed to the bridge?"

"That we are." She answered as we took a left at the next three-way intersection.

As we continued following her towards the bridge, I began to realize just how massive the ship really was; if it wasn't for the fact that Sumeragi had memorized everything about the ship while it was being built, we would have easily gotten lost if we didn't have her or our PDA's.

Fortunately we had both, and Noriega was easily able to lead us to the bridge, all the while we kept passing Haro's and Karel's which were helping with performing final checks on the Ptolemy's systems.

When we finally arrived at the bridge, I was surprised to find that we weren't alone; in fact, there were several people I knew quite well that were here.

The first person was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. He had black hair, brown eyes, and a lean, muscular build. He was wearing a shirt similar to Sumeragi's except that it was brown at the top, and his vest was a short-sleeve that was grey in color. His jeans were exactly like Sumeragi's, as was the belt and the gloves; the only thing that was different about his boots were that they were a design made for men instead of women. This man I was able to instantly identify as Lasse Aeon, and he was currently sitting in what I could only assume was the pilot's seat.

The next person was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She had short pink hair, and eyes that were green in color, as well as a moderate bust. Her outfit was basically the same as that of Sumeragi's, except that her shirt was a light green color at the top, and her vest matched the color of her hair. This woman was Feldt Grace, a good friend of mine who I saw as an older sister, and she was sitting at one of the CIC seats.

The next person was also a young woman who looked to be around 18 years old. She had mid-length brown hair and purple eyes, as well as a bust that was around the same as Feldt's. Her clothes consisted of a shirt that was similar to Sumeragi's and Feldt's except that the top portion was a golden color, a vest that was bright yellow, a metallic teal skirt that went to her thighs, white thigh-high socks that stopped just below the hem of the skirt, and black boots. I instantly identified this person as Mileina Vashti, my sister in all but blood, and she too was sitting at another CIC seat.

The last person, however, took me by surprise; it was Ian Vashti himself.

"Dad?!" Michiko and I exclaimed at the same time; apparently I wasn't the only one who was surprised.

"What? You honestly thought I'd let you two go alone?" Dad asked, laughing a bit as he did so. "And besides, you need somebody to help with the maintenance."

Well, that _is_ a good point; it wouldn't do us any good if we had to constantly stop at Celestial Being's land bases to keep the Gundams and the Ptolemy repaired.

My cousin decided to speak up. "Does anyone here know when Ptolemy will be ready to launch?"

Mileina typed a few commands on her console and got a result a few seconds later. "Ptolemy will be ready to launch in twelve minutes and 43 seconds."

"We're currently running final systems checks and taking in the last of the supplies that we'll need." Feldt added in as she looked on her monitor to see that several Workloader Mobile Suits were loading the last of the supplies onto the ship by using the central loading ramp that was currently extended.

Michiko nodded her thanks, apparently satisfied with the answer.

I swear that the next twelve minutes would be the longest twelve minutes of my life, as I watched the countdown slowly commence. When it hit the three minute mark, I saw on the monitors that most of the Workloaders were done and that they have left the ship right before all the hatches closed, leaving the four remaining Workloaders to move themselves onto specialized berthing zones that were made specifically for them. We were now airtight, and we also had a few Workloaders of our own to help in any heavy-lifting that might be needed in case the Gundams were damaged.

Finally, the countdown hit zero, and the hangar doors behind the ship began to open.

I saw Sumeragi press a button on her chair. "This is _Ptolemaios 3_ to control. Do we have clearance for launch?"

"Ptolemaios 3_, control. Standby one."_ The control chief responded. After a full minute, he gave the affirmative. _"Control to _Ptolemaios 3_. You have clearance to launch."_

"Roger. Thank you, control. _Ptolemaios 3_, out." With that, Sumeragi ended the transmission. She then turned to Lasse. "Lasse, ease us out. _Ptolemaios 3_, launch!"

"Roger that." With a grin, Lasse eased us out of the dock within the base as the _Ptolemaios 3_ emerged from within the _Celestial Being_ for the very first time, emitting yellow GN Particles from its thrusters as it did so. Once clear of the dock, the ship turned a full 180 degrees and started to slowly move out towards the point that was designated on Lasse's navigation screen.

As we traveled there, I caught a glint of silver in my left peripheral vision. Turning my head to look at it, I was met with the sight of one of Celestial Being's side projects.

It was a space colony, the first true space colony ever built and completed by Celestial Being ever since they arrived in this universe. It was grey in color, around 5 miles in diameter, and 20 miles long. There were six equal-area striped areas running across the colony, three of which were habitable masses, while the other three were windows which could be covered up with the mirrors that were hinged onto the structure. In addition, there was an agricultural ring that had a ten-mile radius and was attached to the front of the colony. This specific space colony is an O'Neill "Island 3" type colony cylinder, which had been given the name _New Azadistan_, in honor of the country with the same name back in the timeline Celestial Being originally came from. I looked at it proudly; Michiko and I had actually assisted in its construction for a few months before we and our adoptive parents went back to Earth to find me a magic teacher.

Apparently Lynette and Carla also noticed the structure, as I saw them openly gaping at it. "Miyafuji… is that…?" Carla began to ask.

Ah, so they read about it, eh? Then I guess they weren't expecting to actually _see_ it, then. "Yup! That right there is the first "Island 3" type space colony ever built, _New Azadistan_!"

"Enough, Yoshika. We've got work to do." Sumeragi said to me, which caused me to sigh as I knew we had an operation to oversee. "Feldt, what's the status of the Quantum Teleportation System?"

"No problems, we're able to use it anytime." Said pink-haired woman answered after checking the system.

The Captain nodded. "Then activate it, and set the destination for low-Earth orbit; we'll be rendezvousing with the 8th Space Fleet afterwards."

Felt nodded as she and Mileina began the activation sequence, which three minutes later caused a large portal made of a mix of yellow and green particles to open up in front of the ship. With practiced ease, Lasse guided the Ptolemy through the Quantum Gate, which snapped shut as soon as the ship went through.

* * *

When the Ptolemy exited the gate, we were greeted with the sight of Earth in all its glory as we were now orbiting above the blue and green planet.

"It's… beautiful…" I heard Lynette say to herself.

"Yeah…" Carla vocalized her agreement, as both she and my best friend stared at the planet.

Oh, yeah… this was their first time seeing the Earth from this high up. "I know… this is something that you should never forget."

We were all silent for a few more seconds as we took in the view of the Earth before Mileina noticed a message on her screen. "Miss Sumeragi, it's a message from the 8th Space Fleet."

That got her attention, as she looked at my adoptive older sister. "Well, what does it say?"

"It reads '_Ptolemaios 3, you are to rendezvous with the 8__th__ Space Fleet as soon as your mission in overseeing the Earth's "Operation Trajanus" has been completed to receive extra equipment for the Gundams. After transfer of equipment has been completed, you are to land at Sahara Base Alpha once landing clearance has been granted.'_ That is all." My older sister-figure read the message out loud.

Sumeragi looked thoughtful for a moment. "I was informed that the extra equipment was sent ahead of us to conduct compatibility tests… it seems as though the tests have been completed. Yoshika, Lynette, Carla, Michiko. I want you four to be on standby in the Gundams; although there is a chance that the military's 'Operation Trajanus' will succeed, the opposite is also-"

I, as well as everyone else, were surprised when Sumeragi was cut off due to an alert sounding on Feldt's screen. She was quick to respond, opening up the alert and reading the message as we looked at her… and judging how her eyes shot open in shock, it couldn't be good.

"It's an alert from the observation team… a new Neuroi force has appeared and is attacking the Hive that is already there, as well as the Witch team that was trying to initiate the Dialogues!" the pink-haired CIC operator exclaimed.

"That's not all!" Mileina had even more bad news to add to it. "Right now, another large Neuroi force is moving to destroy a carrier group that our submarines has been able to identify as the 508th Joint Fighter Wing! The Neuroi are too close to the carrier group; our submarines can't intervene without revealing themselves!"

Our eyes widened in shock, and we turned to our captain for orders only to see her eyes glowing a golden color, a clear sign that she was using her Quantum Brainwaves to hyper-accelerate her planning. Her head suddenly turned to look at us, and I could see it in her eyes that she had formulated a tactical plan. "Yoshika! Lynette! You two will sortie in Exia and Dynames and head to Venezia! Carla and Michiko! You two will sortie in the Kyrios and Virtue and rescue the 508th Joint Fighter Wing! This will be Celestial Being's first official intervention against the Neuroi!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" The four of us exclaimed as we left the bridge and headed back towards the hangar as fast as we could, following the maps on our PDA's as we went. After eight minutes, we finally reached the hangar, where we proceeded to board our Gundams as fast as possible; we had lives to save.

As I sat in Exia's cockpit, I initiated the start-up sequence with cool efficiency. "Gundam Exia, disengage GN re-pause. Priority passed to Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti." As I said this, the Individual Information Attestation System ran a retina scanner across my eyes and, after the system confirmed it was really me, completed the startup of Exia, causing its electric blue eyes to flash to life. With practiced ease, I walked the Gundam to the port catapult, the outer doors of which were just now opening.

I could only assume that the same could be said for the starboard catapult as I saw Lynette maneuver the Dynames towards it.

"Exia stabilized in the linear field. Increasing linear catapult voltage from 230 to 520. Transferring launch timing to Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti." Mileina's voice informed me.

"HERE WE GO! HERE WE GO!" My blue Haro, which was now docked to his specialized port in front of me, exclaimed as its eyes flashed repeatedly for a few moments, probably out of excitement.

I nodded in confirmation. "I have control. Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti in Gundam Exia, eliminating the targets!" Right after I said this, I used the controls to have the catapult shoot Exia forward and out of the _Ptolemaios 3_, with green GN particles trailing behind it as well as the huge cloak that it was wearing.

* * *

**A/N: Whew! Finally got that one done! I apologize for the wait, but I was having some difficulty in finding a way to conclude the chapter. Also, I would like to give a shout-out to worldwanderer2.0, who has been a major help with planning out the story; without him, I don't think it would have turned out the way it has. **

**As for the specs of the units that appeared in this chapter, here are the specifications (of which I do NOT take credit; worldwanderer2.0 created the specs, and I have his permission to use them).**

* * *

**1) GN-001REIV Gundam Exia Repair IV**

**Model number: **GN-001REIV

**Namesake: **Gundam Exia Repair IV, Exia R4, R4

**Unit type: **Custom Riot Close Quarters Combat Mobile Suit

**Developed from:**

GN-001 Gundam Exia

GN-001REII Gundam Exia Repair II

GN-001REIII Gundam Exia Repair III

**Developed into: **To Be Announced

**Variants: **

GN-001REIV/hs-A01D Gundam Avalanche Exia R4'

**Manufacturer: **Krung Thep

**Operators: **Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots: **Setsuna F. Seiei (test pilot), Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti (primary pilot)

**Power-plant: **GN Drive

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor; GN Composite Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x GN Vulcan (1 on each arm)

2 x GN Beam Dagger

4 x GN Beam Saber (two mounted in the feet)

GN Long Blade

GN Short Blade

GN Sword Kai II

GN Smokescreen Emitter

Shiranui &amp; Unryu / Souten (GNX-Y901TW Susanowo's)

GN Melee Shield (same GN Shield used by Gundam Exia, but modeled after Blitz Gundam's "Trikeros" Offensive Shield System)

• Rocket-Propelled E-Carbon Anchor Claw

• 8 x Rocket-Propelled Plasma Knives (based on explosive dagger weapon used by Windam)

• 12 x GN Shuriken (explosive throwing weapons)

• Plasma Sword (powerful enough cut a relatively advanced GN-XIII with ease)

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

"GN Drive Burst Mode"

Docking port (Haro)

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

Veda-based Operating System

360-degree Panoramic Cockpit

**Optional Equipment:**

GN Sword

GN Sword Kai

GN Sword III

Avalanche' Pack

GNR-001E GN Arms Type-E

GN Long Rifle - Carried over from the R3, this recent new weapon is optionally mounted on Exia's left arm, allowing Exia to attack targets from long distance without exposing itself. Unlike any of the weapons that Exia has used before, the GN Long Rifle is designed for engaging in long range combat and is equipped with a crystal sensor similar to the weapons used by the 3.5 Generation Gundams. It can be folded in half when it's not in use so that the long barrel will not interfere with mêlée combat, and because discarding the rifle was not an option as it possessed Celestial Being technology.

Ragged Cloak and Hood - The huge MS-sized Ragged Cloak and Hood would serve to cover up the entire body of Gundam Exia Repair IV to conceal its appearance until Yoshika chooses to flip the huge cloak and hood off her Gundam to reveal it in a shocking dramatic fashion for everyone to see.

* * *

**2) GN-002REII Gundam Dynames Repair II**

**Model number: **GN-002REII

**Namesake: **Gundam Dynames Repair II, Dynames R2

**Unit type: **Sniper Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GN-002 Gundam Dynames

GN-002RE Gundam Dynames Repair

**Developed into: **none

**Variants:**

GN-002REII/DG014 Gundam Dynames R2 Torpedo

GN-002REII/SA Gundam Dynames R2 SAGA

**Manufacturer: **Krung Thep

**Operators: **Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots: **Lynette Bishop

**Power-plant:**

GN Drive (default setting)

GN Drive + Large GN Condenser (available only for Gundam Dynames R2 SAGA)

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor; GN Composite Armor

**Armaments:**

6 x 4-tube Missile Launcher

• 24 x GN Missile

2 x GN Beam Saber

GN Small Shield

GN Sniper Rifle

GN Beam Assault Rifle - A GN Beam Rifle with increased rate of fire, but the power of its shots still remain the same of most GN Beam Rifles.

2 x GN Beam Machine Pistol - Has a higher rate of fire and more accurate compared to most GN Beam Pistol models, but still weaker than GN Submachinegun/GN Beam Machinegun and even more so than the GN Beam Rifle. The Beam Machine Pistol contains GN Bayonet Blades with anti-beam coating to fight or defend against attacks from beam sabers or blade weapons and can be infused with GN particles like a GN blade.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking port (Haro)

Sniper Mode

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

360-degree Panoramic Cockpit

**Optional Equipment:**

GN Beam Magnum (based on the one used by Unicorn Gundam)

200mm New Type Linear Rifle (SVMS-01O Over Flag's)

GNR-001D GN Arms Type-D

4 x GN Beam Pistol models (extra)

• 2 x GN Beam Pistol

• 2 x GN Beam Pistol II

Super Substratospheric Altitude Gun

Torpedo Pack

SAGA Pack

GNR-K9 Wolf Pack - This specialized backpack can detached and transform into a four-legged support unit (self-propelled artillery) that can mount either the 200mm New Type Linear Rifle or GN Sniper Rifle as its head, with either the GN Assault Rifle or four extra GN Beam Pistols as stored secondary weapons. Despite having articulated joints, in some battles with land-based type Neuroi, the GNR-K9 used hovering functions to move around, possibly due to the urban terrain and stability reasons. The GNR-K9 Wolf Pack can fight independently being operated by a Haro, freeing up pilot's hands and focus to accomplish other tasks at hand. [A/N: The GNR-K9 Wolf Pack is heavily based on the K9 Dog Pack used by RGM-79K9 GM Sniper K9. See Gundam Build Fighters episode 17 to see how well the GM Sniper K9 and Dog Pack perform in battle]

* * *

**3) GN-003RE Gundam Kyrios Repair**

**Model number: **GN-003RE

**Namesake: **Gundam Kyrios Repair, Kyrios Repair

**Unit type: **Transformable Assault High Mobility Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GN-003 Gundam Kyrios

GN-003/af-G02 Gundam Kyrios Gust

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **none

**Manufacturer: **Krung Thep

**Operators: **Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots: **Carla Luksic

**Power-plant: **GN Drive

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor; GN Composite Armor

**Armaments:**

GN Beam Gatling Cannon (usable only in MA mode)

2 x GN Beam Saber

GN Shield/Heat Claw Blade

GN Twin Beam Rifle

2 x GN Submachine Gun

2 x GN Boosters - Enhanced propulsion technology derived from GN-003/af-G02 Gundam Kyrios Gust. A pair of armored thrusters can be installed onto the Kyrios Repair's legs, granting the unit greater speed and maneuverability for combat.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking port (Haro)

GN Field

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

Veda-based Operating System

360-degree Panoramic Cockpit

**Optional Equipment:**

GN Cannon (Arios Gundam GNHW/M's)

• 2 x GN Vulcan

2 x GN Hand Missile

Tail Booster

Tail Unit

* * *

**4) GN-004RE Gundam Nadleeh Repair**

**Model number: **GN-004RE

**Namesake: **Gundam Nadleeh Repair, Nadleeh Repair

**Unit type: **Innovator/Innovade-use Trial System Mobile Suit

**Developed from:**

GNY-004 Gundam Plutone

GN-004 Gundam Nadleeh

GN-004/te-A02 Gundam Nadleeh Akwos

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **none

**Manufacturer: **Krung Thep

**Operators: **Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots: **Michiko Yamakawa Vashti

**Power-plant: **GN Drive

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor; GN Composite Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x GN Beam Saber

GN Mask Sword

GN Centurion Shield - A highly evolved GN Shield from the Plutone/Nadleeh line. Not only is it wider and thicker while still being lighter in weight, it can also be used in place of or in conjunction with a GN Field. The GN Centurion Shield is made of Laminated E-Carbon and is durable enough to withstand most attacks. The shield can be damaged or destroyed by a beam equipped mobile weapon on par of a GN Bazooka, GN Cannon, GN Launcher/Mega Launcher, or GN Buster Rifle.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking port (Haro)

Trans-Am System

Trial System

"Veda-based Operating System"

360-degree Panoramic Cockpit

**Optional Equipment:**

GN Beam Rifle (Gundam Plutone's)

GN Beam Rifle (Gundam Nadleeh's)

2 x GN Cannons - Obtained from Virtue Repair's setup after armor cast off. While it is not as powerful as the GN Bazooka, the fact that is more flexible and dynamic makes it more suitable for fighting a wider range of enemies. Unlike Virtue Repair, Nadleeh Repair uses them with its hands.

* * *

**5) GN-005RE Gundam Virtue Repair**

**Model number: **GN-005RE

**Namesake: **Gundam Virtue Repair, Virtue Repair

**Unit type: **Heavy Assault Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GN-005 Gundam Virtue

GN-005/PH Gundam Virtue Physical

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **none

**Manufacturer: **Krung Thep

**Operators: **Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots: **Michiko Yamakawa Vashti

**Power-plant: **GN Drive + 2 x GN Condenser

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor; GN Composite Armor

**Armaments:**

GN Bazooka

2 x GN Beam Saber

2 x Leg-mounted GN Beam Cannon/Saber

2 x GN Cannon

4 x GN Panzer Faust (2 on each arm)

GN Physical Bazooka

2 x GN Missile Container

• 48 x GN Missiles (24/container)

GN Beam Cannon - Like the Virtue Physical, the Virtue Repair carries a single, much longer GN Beam Cannon, mounted on the back.

8 x GN Fangs - Modeled after the variant used by Gundam Throne Zwei and Arche Gundam, these GN Fangs can be used to shoot down or stab through enemies from multiple angles and vectors. They are also able to generate beam daggers and possess the ability to pierce GN Fields. Since the Virtue Repair is an offensive Mobile Suit designed to annihilate hostile targets from long distances, these GN Fangs are mainly used to intercept enemy Mobile Suits or Neuroi trying to engage the Virtue Repair in close quarters combat.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking port (Haro)

Burst Mode

GN Field

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

360-degree Panoramic Cockpit

**Optional Equipment: **

GN Bazooka (extra)

Assault Container

* * *

**6) CB-077MP/D GN Cannon Mass Production Drone Type**

**Model number: **CB-077MP/D

**Unit type: **Mass Production Unmanned Assault Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

CB-077 GN Cannon

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **none

**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being Mobile Suit Factory

**Operators: **Celestial Being, ESF

**Power-plant: **Solar Energy System + 1 x GN Drive Tau II

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Armaments:**

4 x GN Long Cannon

2 x 2-tube Missile Launcher

• 12 x GN Micro Missiles

2 x GN Gatling Gun - Mounted on each arm for to intercept missiles and for anti-Mobile Weapon defense.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Mobile Drone Control System

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

* * *

**7) CBS-78 Ptolemaios 3**

**Model number: **CBS-78

** Namesake: **Ptolemaios 3, Ptolemy

**Ship type: **Multi-Purpose Assault Mobile Weapons Carrier

** Developed from: **CBS-742 Ptolemaios 2 Kai

** Developed into:** To Be Determined

** Ships of the Line: **none

** Manufacturer: **Krung Thep

** Operators: **Celestial Being

** Known Captains: **Sumeragi Lee Noriega

** Known Crew: **(Subject to change)

Sumeragi Lee Noriega (Captain)

Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti (Pilot)

Michiko Yamakawa Vashti (Pilot)

Lynette Bishop (Pilot)

Carla Luksic (Pilot)

Feldt Grace (CIC)

Ian Vashti (Maintenance Chief, Gunner)

Mileina Vashti (CIC)

Lasse Aeon (Ship Pilot)

** Power-plant:**

Large GN Condensers

Solar Energy System

4-10 x GN Drive Tau II (varies with no. of Tau Drive-equipped Mobile Weapon onboard)

• 2 x GN Drive Tau II (connected to ship and used)

• 2 x GN Drive Tau II (unconnected to ship, powered off and held in reserve for ship)

• 6 x GN Drive Tau II (used by SEMs and GN Cannons)

0-4 x GN Drives (varies with no. of Gundams onboard)

** Ship accommodations:**

Command Bridge

Cafeteria &amp; Mess Hall

Living-quarters

Conference Room

Medical Bay

Bathing and Shower Hall

Prisoner Deck

Mobile Weapons Hangar

• 15 x MS/MA units

2 x Catapult Launcher

Veda Terminal

** Armor: **Ablative Armor E-Carbon [based on Ablative Armor of Archangel]

** Propulsion:**

6 x Main GN Thrusters

14 x GN Thrusters

8 x Course-Correction Purpose GN Micro-thrusters

** Armaments:**

2 x GN Cannon (mounted on the top of each side of the catapult launchers)

6 x GN Flak Cannon (anti-aircraft/anti-MS/MA defense)

10 x GN Beam Turret (anti-missile/anti-MS/MA defense)

2 x Dual-barreled GN Linear Rail Cannon (powerful enough to pierce GN Fields)

12 x GN Large Missile Launcher

40 x GN Missile Launcher

4 x GN Torpedo Launcher

2 x GN Mega Particle Cannon - Mounted underneath of each side of catapult launchers and far more powerful than the one used by GNMA-Y0001 Empruss. The particle cannons are capable of vaporizing an entire enemy fleet or clearing an asteroid field in seconds. It uses the Ptolemy's Large GN Condensers or GN Drive Tau IIs as an energy source to recharge itself after each shot.

** Special Equipment and Features:**

Trans-Am System

Twin Drive System

GN Field

E-Sensors

Aviation Mode

Atmospheric Re-Entry

• Atmospheric Exit

Submarine Mode

• E-Sonar

• Torpedo Launcher

Stealth System

• Optical Camouflage

• High GN particle

Many x Haro

Many x Karel

** Optional Equipment:**

GN Booster

CB VTOL Craft (aerial transport ship)

Universe Transports Skiff (mass produced CB space shuttle)

4 x Workloader

** Mobile Weapons:**

SVMS-010A/MD Over Flag Astro Package Drone Type (used for scout/recon purposes)

CBNGN-003 (SVMS-01AP) Union Flag Celestial Being Version (aka Flag Kai)

4 x GN-00902 SEM Tau-Drive Type

2 x CBY-077 GN Cannon Mass Production Drone Type

GN-001REIV Gundam Exia Repair IV

GN-002REII Gundam Dynames Repair II

GN-003RE Gundam Kyrios Repair

GN-004RE Gundam Nadleeh Repair

GN-005RE Gundam Virtue Repair

** Innovative Strikers: **

Duel Gundam

Buster Gundam

Blitz Gundam

Aegis Gundam

Strike Gundam

Strike Rouge Gundam

** Colors: **White and Red

* * *

**That should take care of the specs for now. When more units appear (and indeed they will), I will add their specs here at the end of the chapter. Also, Innovative Strikers (IS for short) are Celestial Being's version of Striker Units, which are powered by a hybrid of a Witch's magic and the Solar Energy System, of which several emitters have been built in remote locations along the Earth's equator to remotely send power to any unit that is equipped with the Solar Energy System.**

**Oh! Before I forget; I'm beginning to make plans for a side-story of this fic: 00 WITCHES IS: White Knight Chronicles, which will feature the development and testing of Celestial Being's first and ultimately only GN-powered Striker Unit, or rather "Innovative Striker", the name of which will remain secret for the time being, as well as who its Meister is.**


	3. Chapter 3: Celestial Being

**00 WITCHES**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 3: Celestial Being**

* * *

_April 19__th__, 1945. _

_Romagna, 504__th__ JFW "Ardor Witches" Base_

_General POV, Ardor Witches_

It was a calm morning at the base of the Ardor Witches; there were very few clouds in the sky, and the temperature was at a comfortable 83 degrees. Of course, it was only calm outside the base.

Inside the base, however, there was a flurry of activity as technicians were scrambling to complete final checks on the Witches' Striker Units and weaponry as the time for Operation Trajanus drew near.

Overseeing the preparations was a young woman who was around 19 years old, had naturally tan skin and originated from Romagna. She was wearing an open black military jacket with a red shirt underneath it, knee-high black socks, black shoes, and a pair of visible red panties. She also had black hair, and a pair of deep green eyes. This woman was Federica N. Doglio, the Squadron Leader of the 504th Joint Fighter Wing, aka the Ardor Witches.

Standing next to her was another woman who also appeared to be around 19 years of age and was a Fusojin. She was wearing a buttoned up white military uniform, a pair of small white socks, white shoes, and a one-piece swimsuit underneath her uniform. On her neck was a necklace with a green pendant with a red jewel in the center, and is kept tucked inside her uniform. She also had brown eyes and brown hair. This woman was Takei Junko, a Flight Lieutenant of the 504th JFW.

Takei turned to Federica. "Federica, how are the preparations coming?"

Said Squadron Leader turned her attention to Takei. "I'd say that the preparations are going smoothly; we'll be outfitted with extra weapons and ammo in case things go south… but I'm still doubtful about this whole operation."

"That may be so, but remember; the sooner we can end this war, the better. And if it means coexisting with the Neuroi, then so be it." Takei replied.

"So you think this operation will succeed then." Federica stated, to which the Fusojin answered with a nod. "Then tell me; what makes you think it will?"

Takei smirked. "I heard how Sergeant Miyafuji, on two separate occasions, nearly made contact with the Neuroi, but she was interrupted both times. In my eyes, this will be the third attempt, and you know the old saying; 'third time's the charm'."

Federica laughed. "Well, when you put it that way, I can only hope that is the case."

A technician walked over to them and saluted. "Squadron Leader Doglio! All preparations to the Striker Units and weapons have been completed!"

Federica nodded. "Thank you for the hard work. You're all dismissed!"

"Ma'am!" the technician saluted again, then left to tell the others.

"I better round up the rest of the Witches, then." Takei said mostly to herself, but she was heard by Doglio.

"I'd appreciate that; we're running on a tight schedule. Get them here as fast as you can." The Squadron Leader requested.

"Yes, ma'am!" Takei saluted, before walking off to gather the others.

Federica turned to look at the Strikers while thinking to herself. _'I can only hope that nothing goes wrong…'_

* * *

A short while later, Takei had returned to the hangar with the rest of the Witches in tow, and who were all chatting with each other.

The first girl was a Hispanian, was around 18 years old and had slightly tan skin. She was wearing a black military uniform on top of a blue shirt, and was also wearing a small blue skirt, underneath which were a pair of red panties, and on her feet were a pair of black socks and brown shoes. She also had yellow eyes and brown hair. This girl was Angela Salas Larrazabal.

The second girl was also around 18 years old and was a Liberian. She was wearing a brown leather jacket with a cream-colored shirt underneath it, as well as a tie and a pair of white panties. On her feet were a pair of white socks and brown combat boots. She also had black hair and teal-colored eyes. This girl was Dominica S. Gentile.

The next three girls were all Romans who were wearing the same outfit, consisting of a black military jacket with a red shirt underneath it, red panties, long black socks, and dark brown shoes. The first girl had long light brown hair and brown eyes, the second girl, who was taller than the first, had short black hair and grey eyes, and the third girl, who was shorter than the first two, had light cream-colored hair and bluish-grey eyes. These three girls were Fernandia Malvezzi, Luciana Mazzei, and Martina Crespi.

The next girl looked to around 17 years of age and was a Liberian. She was wearing a tannish-brown coat with a cream-colored shirt underneath it, and a pair of white panties. On her feet were a pair of black socks and brown shoes. This girl was Jane T. Godfrey.

The last girl also looked to be around 17 years old ad was a Britannian. She was wearing a cream-colored jacket with a blue shirt underneath it, a pair of white panties, a pair of thigh-high striped stockings which were colored light tan and brown, and a pair of brown combat boots. She also had brownish-orange hair and blue eyes. This girl was Patricia Schade, who was commonly known as Patti to her friends.

"What do you think about this operation?" Angela asked her god friend, Patricia.

"I'm having mixed feelings about it…" Patti answered. "On one hand, we should be able to bring the war to an end… but on the other, we just might be flying right into a trap."

"If worse comes to worse, my wife and I will use our One-two Punch to break us out." Dominica said, something which said wife, Jane G., agreed with.

"I'd like to get this operation over with; I'm almost done sewing another jacket." Luciana said, although she was mostly speaking to herself.

"Aww, come on, Luciana!" Martina playfully whined. "Spend some time with me every once in a while!"

Luciana sighed. "I suppose I could…"

"Yay~!" Martina cheered.

"Now, now. No need for you to bug Luciana into spending some time with you; she'll spend some time with you when she wants to, Martina." Fernandia said.

Martina replied by latching onto Luciana and sticking her tongue out at Fernandia in a playful manner.

Federica chuckled, but then got serious. "All Witches, to your Strikers on the double! We have an operation to complete!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The others replied.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, the 504th JFW was airborne, and had linked up with the Venezian 241st Fighter Squadron, which mostly consisted of Macchi C.202 Folgore fighters, although for this mission there were also a few Junkers Ju-52 transport planes.

One of the fighters approached Takei, forming up next to her and gaining her attention. When the pilot saw that he had her attention, he nodded and flashed her a salute.

Takei smiled, and returned the salute.

The fighter's pilot seemed to be satisfied, and he returned to his formation.

"What was that about?" Federica asked as she flew next to Takei.

"I'm not sure…" The Fusojin answered. "But I think he was wishing me good luck."

"Well then, you're going to need it; you know what you're supposed to do."

"Right." _'And I can't fail; the lives of countless people depend upon the notion of peaceful coexistence with the Neuroi… Please let this attempt at the Dialogues-to-Come succeed.'_ Takei thought to herself, fingering the necklace she was wearing.

She knew that if she could succeed in this attempt, then Celestial Being wouldn't have to reveal themselves to the world. But if her attempt at the Dialogues failed… then they _will_ take action.

How did she know all of this? Simple; she was an observer agent for Celestial Being, and has been for several years now. And she also knew their history in the timeline Celestial Being had originally came from.

To put it simply, she had knowledge about said organization that others would kill for.

She was brought out of her musings when Federica placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey Takei? Can you hear me?"

"Eh?" Said Flight Lieutenant turned her attention to her Squadron Leader.

"Heh, you were spacing out again." Federica chuckled, before she got serious. "Look there; we're approaching the Hive."

Takei's head snapped forward upon hearing that, and sure enough; the Hive that was above Venezia was directly in front of them.

"This is it, everyone… I'm going in." Takei reported, before she flew ahead towards the swirling clouds that made up a Neuroi Hive while the rest of the group stayed back, but ready to help the Fusojin if she needed it.

As she approached the Hive, Takei noticed a small shape descending from the nest… and it was a Humanoid Neuroi, just like what Yoshika saw back in Gallia.

'_So… that's what Yoshika saw six months ago…'_ Takei thought to herself.

"Neuroi detected!" A crew member of one of the Ju-52's reported through the radio. "Looks exactly like the humanoid form reported by the 501st last year!"

"Confirmed here as well. Now commencing contact procedures!" Takei reported as well in a commander's tone of voice, but internally she was nervous. _'Please… let this work!'_

The Fusojin positioned herself so that she was ten meters away from the Humanoid Neuroi, which made no aggressive actions; instead, it seemed as though it wanted to try and tell her something.

All of a sudden, several floating screens appeared around her, showing her various scenes. One such scene showed when the Neuroi first appeared above Gallia, and several Gallian fighters started shooting at the Hive. When the three fighters entered the Hive, they were swiftly destroyed, and the Neuroi sent out one of their own to perform a retaliatory strike.

'_So… that's how this war with the Neuroi started…'_ Takei thought to herself.

Another scene showed several Witches of the 504th JFW duking it out against a Large-type Neuroi that Takei recognized as one that she herself had shot down eight months ago.

The third scene, however, was something far different; it was a scene of a production line that had several white mechs on it… and judging from the large red fragment that she saw was attached to each mech, Takei could easily guess what the white units were.

'_Mass-produced Warlocks?!'_ She thought, genuinely shocked at what she was seeing. But her attention then turned towards the fourth screen.

On the fourth and final screen, there were two Witches, one a Britannian and the other a Fusojin, who were together with another Humanoid Neuroi, with the Fusojin's hand extended. The Humanoid Neuroi's arm also extended and five "fingers" emerged from the end of the arm. The two drifted closer together, but right before they could touch, the first Warlock showed up and interrupted the contact.

Takei was instantly able to identify the scene she was seeing; it was Yoshika's second attempt at the Dialogues-to-Come, which had failed due to being interrupted a second time.

Her attention then shifted back to the Humanoid Neuroi, which kept staring at her. On a whim, she decided to raise her arm in an outstretched position.

To her internal joy, the Neuroi copied her action, and the two began to drift closer… until it abruptly stopped, snapping its head skyward.

Takei did the same and, to her horror, there was an enormous red beam bearing down on her.

Before she even had time to blink, she felt herself being pushed backwards by the Humanoid Neuroi, as it shoved her out of the way of the beam and taking the hit in her place.

All Takei could do was stare with wide eyes as the Humanoid Neuroi was destroyed in front of her eyes as it sacrificed itself to save her… but her attention on that matter was short-lived as an enormous shadow engulfed most of the Venezian coast. She looked up… and was horrified at the sight.

Directly above the black Hive was an even bigger Super Hive, spanning an area around five times that of a regular Hive. What really shocked her, though, was the fact that the new Neuroi were mercilessly slaughtering their own kind by destroying the old Hive.

"This is Takei… the mission has failed…" said Fusojin could only say in an emotionless voice, but her expression quickly turned to panic and fear when the new Neuroi, who have just finished killing off the old Hive, turned their sights on the 504th. "EVERYBODY, RETREAT!"

Even as she frantically shouted the order, she and the rest of the 504th were flying away from the Super Hive as quickly as they could while dodging numerous beams. Unfortunately, the few Junkers Ju-52 transports weren't as fast and agile as the Witches and their fighter escorts, and they were the first to be destroyed.

Takei could only pray that Celestial Being would make their grand debut to the world right here and now, otherwise she and the Ardor Witches would be history… Unknown to her, help was on the way.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

Up in the upper atmosphere, Yoshika and Lynne (with the help of their Haro partners) began atmospheric entry protocols as Exia and Dynames approached the Earth's atmosphere.

"Lynne, do you remember what to do?" Yoshika asked her friend and fellow Meister.

"Um… I think so." Lynne answered as she continued with the procedure, with her emerald green Haro making any corrections when needed.

"Now listen, this the tactical plan that Miss Sumeragi sent us; When we initiate Phase 1, I am to enter the battle first and destroy the first dozen or so Neuroi, after which you are to provide covering fire for me and the 504th. After the 504th has retreated from the battlefield, we will initiate Phase 2; a force consisting of several squadrons of NGN Mobile Drones led by seven Empruss Drone Types will draw the attention of the Neuroi, while the two of us will infiltrate the enemy Hive and destroy the central Core. Afterwards, we are to wipe out any remaining Neuroi to hopefully delay them knowing about Celestial Being. Do you understand, Lynne?" Yoshika asked, making sure that Lynette understood what to do during their first official mission.

"Um… Yes, I believe I do." The Britannian answered after memorizing what she was told.

Yoshika smiled at her friend through the communication screen, then got serious. "We're now beginning to enter the atmosphere. Engaging GN Field."

"GN FIELD! GN FIELD!" The Haros of the two Meisters shouted out as the green barrier of GN particles enveloped the two Gundams, which began to descend into the atmosphere.

* * *

_General POV, Ardor Witches_

Back with Takei and the 504th, things weren't looking so good; two Folgore fighters have been shot down trying to protect the Witches, and Jane G.'s right arm had several shrapnel wounds due to her gun exploding from overheating.

Federica was having a very difficult time trying to defend herself, as her MG 151/15 kept spraying bullets at the numerous Neuroi that were shooting at her. She hastily raised her shield, blocking one set of beams, then performed a Stall Turn followed by an Immelmann Turn to get on the tail of a Neuroi and fired her machine gun at it, managing to destroy its Core.

Takei blocked another beam that would have hit Dominica, who was holding onto Jane G. protectively, and returned fire with her Type 99-2 Model 2 Kai, managing to damage the responsible Neuroi but not quite getting the Core. She gritted her teeth, and prayed for a miracle.

Dominica, on the other hand, was holding her wife with one hand and her M1919A6 Browning machine gun with the other. She quickly rolled to the right, evading yet another beam that would have killed both her and Jane G., returning fire as she did so. She gritted her teeth; she had to get Jane G. out of here and to a medical facility.

Those shrapnel wounds that her friend had were starting to bleed really badly, turning the right sleeve of her uniform into a dark red color, and Jane G.'s breathing was starting to get heavy.

Angela wasn't doing any better; she was on her last clip of ammo for her Boys anti-tank rifle Mk1, and even that was beginning to run low. Super-charging another bullet, she fired it at yet another Neuroi and managed to destroy it, but the Neuroi that she destroyed had reinforcements, and they were chomping at the bit to shoot her down. Angela managed to evade most of the beams, while using her shield to block the beams she couldn't avoid. Once she found an opening, she pointed her rifle at one of them and pulled the trigger. To her horror, all she heard was a click; she was completely out of ammunition.

Fernandia, Luciana, and Martina were barely managing to keep the Neuroi off their backs; Luciana was the farthest ahead of them in their retreat, firing her own Boys anti-tank rifle Mk1 at any of the Neuroi that tried their hand at shooting down her two friends, while Fernandia and Martina were spraying molten lead out of their MG42s at any Neuroi that got too close. However, the three friends weren't without injuries; their clothes had burned away in some places, revealing 2nd degree burns caused by Neuroi beams grazing them when they barely had enough time to dodge.

Patti was in a similar situation as the rest of the 504th; despite her ability to control her shields' strength to avoid unnecessary magic consumption, she was forced to almost constantly use it. Her Spitfire Mk.22 Striker Unit had taken a hit earlier, and she was down one flight leg. She ejected the useless left flight leg, shedding some weight and helping her move a little faster. With a small amount of difficulty, she managed to roll out of the way of yet another barrage of red beams, returning fire with her M1919A6 Browning machine gun.

The six remaining Macchi C.202 Folgore fighters of the Venezian 241st Fighter Squadron did all they could to evade the red beams of death; they barrel rolled, jinked, corkscrewed, and just about every other trick in the book, and so far it was working… that is, until one of them took a hit to the tail.

"**Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Questo è il tenente Martino Manzo! Sono stato colpito, io vado-"** The pilot frantically shouted through the radio in his native language, before the rest of his plane was vaporized by another red beam.

All in all, the human combatants in this battle were in a desperate situation.

Takei, who had managed to find some breathing room for a few precious seconds, observed the situation and positions of the Neuroi… and she saw something that sent her into a panic. "DOMINICA, ABOVE YOU!" She screamed through the transponder.

Dominica, due to her concentration being focused on keeping Jane G. safe, didn't quite hear what the Fusojin shouted. "What did you-" she was cut off as a Large-type Neuroi dropped in in front of her, with its beams ports already glowing in preparation for a charged shot.

Dominica's eyes shot open in horror, as time seemed to slow down for her. Her life flashed before her eyes; the times when she would play on the tire swing with her mother and father, when she would take up odd jobs and working at a junk trader's shop to help her family with their financial problems, when she first became a cadet at one of Liberion's Witch academies, when she first went to Britannia as a part of the Eighth Air Force, when she slapped the retirement notice in her superior officer's faces when she was ordered to return to Liberion to become a flight instructor, when she first transferred to the 504th JFW, and when she met the girl she would fall in love with: Jane T. Godfrey.

Just before the Neuroi could fire its beam, however, the front section was destroyed by a flash of pink light. Several more flashes of pink light followed, and the Neuroi was destroyed, leaving Dominica staring at where the Neuroi was just at, wondering what just happened.

A few seconds after that, a peculiar sound could be heard… and it was a sound that nearly made Takei break out into tears of joy as she recognized it.

"What's this sound I'm hearing?!" Angela asked through the transponder, but only got static. She and the rest of the Witches turned their heads towards the direction the sound was coming from, and were greeted to the sight of something that was covered in a ragged cloak descending from the sky, positioning itself in front of them while emitting green particles from under the cloak.

When the thing began to shift slightly, they raised their guard, but when it threw off the cloak, their jaws dropped.

For directly in front of them was something that looked like it came straight out of a science fiction novel; it was a giant humanoid robot which sported blue and white armor, an enormous sword on its right arm, and a shield on its left arm… and the green particles that they previously noticed were coming out of its back.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

As she looked at the 504th JFW through the panoramic cockpit, Yoshika could easily see the looks of shock and wonder, as well as their wariness due to their current situation.

She decided to ignore them, and focused her attention on the numerous Neuroi in front of her. "Targets confirmed. Gundam Exia will eliminate the targets."

With that said, she accelerated the Exia forward directly into the fray, its eyes flashing as they acquired its targets.

* * *

_General POV, Ardor Witches_

When the unknown humanoid machine's electric blue eyes flashed and it surged forward with a burst of green particles, the Witches of the 504th JFW (except for Takei; she's merely acting along) began to panic, but that was replaced with surprise when the machine ignored them and used the enormous sword on its right arm to slice a Neuroi in two, destroying it in one swing.

As it passed by the Witches, though, Federica managed to get a glimpse of a word that was on the unknown machine's head.

'_Gun…dam? Is that… the name of the machine?'_ Federica thought to herself as she saw the Gundam charge towards another Neuroi and destroyed with one swing of its sword, then repeating the maneuver while easily evading the red beams that were fired at it with an agility that honestly made her jealous.

Why couldn't their Strikers fly like that?

As she hovered there, the rest of the 504th flew next to her. "S-Squadron Leader Doglio… what in the world _is_ that thing…?" Angela asked, freaked out at the unknown machine that was wreaking havoc on the Neuroi.

"I honestly have no idea… but whatever it is, it pretty much saved our lives…" Federica said to herself, although it was audible to the others as they kept their eyes on the unknown machine.

To their shock, the enormous sword folded up against the arm, and it began to shoot _pink energy beams_ from the hilt, destroying several smaller Neuroi, before it spun around, unfolding its sword and slicing apart another Large-type that tried to sneak up on it.

"T-T-That thing has _BEAM_ weapons?!" Martina exclaimed, before Jane G. let out a pained whimper, getting their attention.

"JANE!" Dominica shouted, beginning to panic as her beloved's condition began to get worse.

Takei gave Jane G. a closer look. "We have to get back to base; we can't treat her here!"

Federica nodded and sounded the retreat. "All Witches, retreat from this airspace immediately! We are in no condition to continue fighting!"

The other Witches of the 504th were only too happy to comply, but it seemed as though a Neuroi managed to sneak past the Gundam and take another shot at the Ardor Witches.

'_Dammit!'_ Takei cursed to herself and moved to protect her comrades with her shield.

But before she could move into position, another pink beam pierced the Core of the Neuroi from above and destroyed it.

"What? Another one?!" Martina exclaimed as she and the others looked up, only to see another giant humanoid robot sporting green and white armor and was holding an enormous rifle in its hands. They could only assume that the second machine was responsible for the shot.

This was confirmed when the yellow head crest snapped down, covering the eyes and revealing a glass circle in its head, and aimed the rifle at the Neuroi which were trying to destroy the first Gundam, destroying each of them with a single shot.

"Just what are… those things?!" Luciana actually exclaimed, something which was highly unusual for her, as she and the others watched the two machines make mincemeat out of the Neuroi.

"We can worry about that later; right now we've got to get out of here!" Takei exclaimed.

"My wife needs medical attention now!" Dominica shouted, holding Jane G. close to her.

The others agreed, and began to retreat back to their base.

Takei mentally prayed for the safety of the two Gundam Meisters.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

Yoshika smiled when she saw the 504th JFW finally retreat as they followed the fighters out of the area. "Attention 2nd Defense Fleet; Phase 1 has been completed. I repeat; Phase 1 of the operation is complete. Send in the Mobile Drones so that we can initiate Phase 2." She said through a CB communication link.

"**This is the 2****nd**** Defense Fleet of the ESF. Roger, we will comply. Sending in the drones now."** The Captain of the _Takemikazuchi_, the flagship of the 2nd Defense Fleet, said through the radio.

Yoshika looked to the southeast, seeing a massive aircraft carrier, along with several other carriers which were somewhat smaller, on a screen that was zoomed in on the specific location disengaging their Optical Camouflage, the massive _Takemikazuchi_ launching an assortment of Flag and Enact Mobile Drones from the six catapults it was equipped with, and the smaller carriers each launching a single Empruss Mass Production Drone Type, yellow particles emanating from each of their two GN Tau Drive II's as they took off.

"Lynne, get ready for Phase 2; the MD force has just launched!" Yoshika told her friend as she used the Exia's GN Sword Kai II's Rifle Mode to destroy several Medium-type Neuroi from range, before switching the weapon back to Sword Mode to bisect another Large-type.

"Right!" Lynette replied as she continued to snipe Neuroi after Neuroi from a safe distance, occasionally having her Haro help her dodge the beams that came her way.

After a few minutes of fighting, the Mobile Drones arrived at the battlefield and began firing at the Neuroi.

The first of the Mobile Drones to begin shooting were the AEU-09MD AEU Enact Drone Types, which were currently in their Flight Mode. Consisting of two four-ship formations, the eight Enacts first climbed to a high altitude, then dived upon the unsuspecting Neuroi, managing to destroy several of their number on the first pass. Pulling up from their dive, four of the Enacts transformed into their Mobile Suit Mode and engaged the Neuroi up close and personal with their sonic blades, the drones' extreme reaction time enabling them to evade most of the beams fired from the Neuroi with ease, while blocking any of the beams they couldn't avoid using their Defense Rods, as they cut apart one Neuroi after another. The other four Enacts, meanwhile, stayed in their Flight Mode to engage the Neuroi in high-speed dogfights using advanced air combat maneuvers that would have most likely killed a human being from the g-forces if they had a pilot.

The next eight Mobile Drones to arrive were SVMS-01MD Union Flag Drone Types, which were all also currently in their Flight Mode. The eight Flags performed their own diving attack on a different group of Neuroi which were moving to engage the Enacts, eliminating them from the equation as they turned skyward. Reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet, they repeated their diving attack run, this time targeting a group of Neuroi that were starting to give the Enacts some trouble. Bringing their Linear Rifles to bear, the Flags opened fire, destroying three Neuroi and heavily damaging five more. Four of the Flags transformed into Mobile Suit Mode and joined the four Enacts that were also in MS form and used their Linear Rifles to give fire support to the Enacts that were using their Sonic Blades to slice apart one Neuroi after another. The other four Flags remained in their Flight Mode and assisted the four Enacts which were also in their own Flight Mode in destroying any Small and Medium-type Neuroi that they came across.

The third and final flight of MD units to join the fray were seven GNMA-Y0001MP/D Empruss Mass Production Drone Types. Like the Flags and the Enacts, the seven Empruss units entered the battlefield high above the Neuroi, but instead of diving, they remained at altitude. Using the gravity-manipulating properties of GN particles, they oriented themselves nose-down while still hovering and opened their center section, revealing the barrels of their GN Particle Cannons. Taking careful aim at seven Large-types, they opened fire, unleashing seven large and deadly yellow GN particle beams that tore straight through the unsuspecting Neuroi, as well as several Small and Medium-types that were also caught in the line of fire.

Taken by surprise, several groups of Neuroi started flying upwards to intercept the Mobile Armors that were above them, but the beams they fired were either easily evaded or blocked by a yellow GN Field. As the Neuroi drew ever closer, the Empruss units suddenly dived on them, using their "wings" – which were in reality Anti-Ship GN Swords – to cut through their attackers, destroying three of them and inflicting major damage on eleven more. After their attack run, the Empruss units used their GN Beam Cannons to fire a barrage of particle beams into the enemy ranks, easily destroying dozens of their number even as they performed erratic evasive action to dodge the numerous beams that were being fired at them.

The amount of chaos that the Flags, Enacts, and Empruss units were causing amongst the enemy ranks caused the Neuroi to focus most of their forces on them… leaving Exia and Dynames free to attack the Super Hive with only a minimal amount of resistance.

"Lynne, the path to the Hive is open; now's our chance! Follow me in!" Yoshika said to Lynette as she made Exia charge towards the Super Hive, dodging the occasional beam that was fired her way.

"I'm coming!" Lynette replied as Dynames followed the sword-wielding Gundam into the enemy's den, leaving the Neuroi that were outside the Super Hive for the MD units to handle.

* * *

When Exia and Dynames entered the Super Hive, their pilots were anticipating that there would still be some Neuroi within, but they didn't expect that there would be close to 80 or so Large-type enemies lying in wait. Upon spotting them, the Neuroi immediately let loose with a huge barrage of beams, forcing the pilots to block them with their GN Fields.

"Damn, I didn't expect this many to still be in here!" Yoshika yelled as she began to open fire on the Neuroi, taking down two of them in short order.

"I can see the Core, too… and it's huge!" Lynette exclaimed as she began to dodge another volley of beams, returning fire with her GN Sniper Rifle whenever she got the chance to do so.

She was right; the Core of the Super Hive was twice as big as an average Mobile Suit… and it seemed as though it was actually _growing_ each second they left it alone.

"We have to destroy that thing ASAP!" The Fusojin said, dodging another set of beams and withdrawing three GN Shuriken from the GN Melee Shield, throwing them with the aim of a pro and scoring two more kills. Afterwards, she oriented the shield and fired the anchor claw at another Large-type.

With the Exia's strength, Yoshika pulled the Neuroi so that it was in front of her, using it as a shield as it was killed by beams fired from its own kind. She sighed sadly at this. _'The Neuroi don't care if one of their own is in the way of fire…'_ "Lynne, I need you to get back and aim at the central Core; as long as it's there, more and more Neuroi will continue to spawn!"

As if to prove her point, two new Neuroi Cores materialized in front of her, but she destroyed them before they could generate any armor.

"Got it!" The Britannian girl answered, moving the Dynames back away from the other Neuroi so that she could focus on aiming at her target.

Yoshika, meanwhile was buying her friend enough time by engaging the Neuroi up close and personal; the range she specializes in. Exia's left arm reached for a handle that popped out under the right shoulder and pulled out a beam saber while igniting it, quickly swinging both the saber and the GN Sword Kai II to destroy two Neuroi that made the mistake of trying to flank her at near point-blank range.

She set her sights on several Neuroi that were moving to pursuit the Dynames and charged straight at them. "Oh no you don't!" she yelled as the foot-mounted beam sabers ignited, bringing the total number of swords she was now wielding to four.

She reached them before they could fire at her friend, and Yoshika lashed out with the foot-mounted sabers, the kicks cutting away large swathes of their armor and exposing the Cores of five of them, which she destroyed with a single shot each from her sword's Rifle mode.

Lynette, meanwhile, was taking careful aim at the Core while charging up her shot, but she knew she didn't have much time before the Neuroi began firing at her. To her joy, she finally got a complete lock on her target.

Before she pulled the trigger, though, she looked at her emerald green Haro as a question popped up in her mind. "Hey, Haro? Did the previous pilot of the Dynames say anything when doing this?"

"TARGETED AND FIRING! TARGETED AND FIRING!" The Haro exclaimed.

Lynette smiled. "Thank you, Haro." Her expression turned serious as she peered back into the sniper scope built within the cockpit once again. "This is Lynette Bishop in Gundam Dynames. Targeted… and firing!" With that she pulled the trigger.

The beam of charged GN particles shot out of the GN Sniper Rifle and raced towards the large central Core that was their target, striking it dead-on.

Yoshika was just about to attack another Large-type when it suddenly shrieked, then shattered into white shards. Surprised, she looked around to see that the other Neuroi were suddenly shattering as well. Her eyes then locked onto where the Super Hive's Core should have been, only to see that it was fragmenting and breaking up.

She smiled to herself. _'Lynne… you have much more potential than you think you have… you just needed the proper training, and a friend to support you…'_

Lynette, meanwhile, was looking at the Core she shot with wide eyes. "I… I did it…?"

Yoshika opened a communication line to her best friend, and quickly figured out what she was thinking by looking at her facial expression. "Lynne… you did it…"

"I did…?" the Britannian replied, even as she and Yoshika gazed at the rapidly disappearing Super Hive, which began to clear the skies over Venezia from any more Neuroi.

Yoshika's eyes caught a few black glints. Zooming in on the glints, her eyes widened.

"A few Neuroi survived, and they're trying to make a run for it! We can't let them get away!" she exclaimed, even as the Mobile Drones, the Flags and Enacts all in their respective Flight modes, took off after them, firing when they got within range. Yoshika decided to join them, and engaged Exia's GN Drive Burst Mode to catch up.

The few surviving Neuroi were desperately trying to get away from the metallic monsters that were chasing them down… which were quickly catching up to them. The Neuroi began firing wildly at their assailants, even as said assailants fired precise shots into their ranks, killing one after another of the few survivors of their Hive's premature destruction.

Only four Neuroi were left, but they would meet their doom at the blue and white Horned Demon, which had rings of green particles emanating from its back, that was already on top of them. Said demon sliced apart two of their number in short order, and a third fell to one of the white metallic monsters.

The last Neuroi didn't even have the time to comprehend what was happening, as its Core was pierced by a single pink beam that was fired from the green and white Horned Demon that was several kilometers away.

Yoshika looked back at the Dynames and smiled. "Nice shot, Lynne. I should have recruited you sooner!"

Lynette blushed at the praise she was receiving from her best friend. "Umm… what do we do now?"

Yoshika kept the smile as she explained. "We're to head to Sahara Base Alpha and wait for Carla, Micchi, and the Ptolemy to arrive there as well, so we can plot our next move. Since Celestial Being's existence has now been revealed to the world, we're going to show the Neuroi that we mean business."

With that said, Exia and Dynames turned and flew south, while the Mobile Drones returned to their carriers, which then cloaked themselves with Optical Camouflage and sailed away.

* * *

_April 19, 1945_

_Atlantic Ocean, 508__th__ JFW "Mighty Witches" Base, Liberion Carrier _USS Lexington

_General POV_

It was a calm morning for the Carrier group that made up the 508th Joint Fighter Wing, also known as the Mighty Witches, as they sailed eastward while escorting a group of cargo ships towards Britannia, where they would refuel before heading to the recently liberated Gallia to assist in relief efforts.

Standing on the deck of the _USS Lexington_ was a 23-year old young woman who was enjoying the breeze of the salty sea air. She was a Liberian who had waist-length brown hair and emerald green eyes. She was wearing a blue Liberion Navy uniform, which was currently unbuttoned, showing that she was wearing a white bra underneath which supported her high C-cup breasts and matching white panties. On her feet were ankle-high white socks and black shoes. She was also wearing a single white earring on her right ear. This woman was Jane Thatch, the Wing Commander of the 508th JFW.

Jane T. sighed as she felt the breeze sweep across her body; she honestly loved getting up early just to feel this sensation. Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned around.

Standing behind her was a woman who was 19 years old. She was a Fusojin who had shoulder-length blue hair as well as brown eyes. She was wearing a standard white Fusoan Navy top which was currently unbuttoned to let in the breeze, a pair of small white, white shoes, and was also wearing swimmers underneath her uniform. This woman was Mie Shindou, the Squadron Leader of the Mighty Witches.

"The breeze is pleasant this morning, isn't it Wing Commander?" Mie asked as she walked up beside her.

Jane T. nodded. "It is… and how many times do I have to tell you to call me Jane when we're alone?"

Mie nodded back. "Oh, sorry Jane. So, shall I wake up the other girls?"

"I don't see why not."

"Very well; I'll have the girls in the Mess Hall in thirty minutes." And with that, Mie walked off.

Jane T. turned around so that she was facing the breeze again. "I suppose I can stay out here for a few more minutes…"

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Jane T. was walking to the Mess Hall, guided by the smell of breakfast. But before she reached it, though, somebody covered her eyes with a blindfold. "H-Hey! What the-" But before she could continue, she felt something being pressed against her back.

"Do me a favor and walk _real _slowly…" A voice said behind her, a voice that Jane T. recognized instantly.

"M-Mie?! What's the meaning of this?!" The blindfolded Liberian exclaimed.

She then heard the distinct sound of a gun being primed, causing her to gulp. "Just follow my instructions, and I promise you that you won't be harmed."

Internally, Jane T. was panicking; had they learned about her deepest secret? She would have to tread very carefully to get out of this situation.

As she was being led along, Jane T. happened to notice that the smell of food was becoming stronger, causing her to become suspicious as to what was actually going on. As she was forced to take another left, the smell was at its strongest.

"Alright," she heard Mie say. "You can take off the blindfold now." After Mie said this, there was the sound of her running to an area nearby.

Jane T. hurriedly got rid of the blindfold, but she wasn't expecting what was in front of her.

"SURPRISE!" the voices of several Witches shouted out at once.

There in front of her was Mie along with seven other girls who were all behind a big birthday cake, with a banner above them with the words "Happy 24th Birthday!" sewn onto it. Also, everyone there was giving her a huge grin.

Jane T. couldn't believe it; she had completely forgotten that today was her 24th birthday, but everyone else remembered. Her eyes began to tear up slightly as she looked at the other Witches who were there.

The first girl was a 16-year old Fusojin who had short brown hair and bright blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of a white Navy jacket with a patch that signified her as a Flight Lieutenant. She was also wearing black socks, white shoes, and a swimsuit underneath her jacket. This girl was Takami Karibuchi.

The second girl was a 17-year old Liberian who had mid-length light brown hair and teal-colored eyes. She was wearing a Liberion Navy uniform with a white undershirt beneath it, white panties, black socks, and brown shoes. This girl was Cecilia E. Harris.

The third girl was an 18-year old Britannian who had light brown hair that went down to her mid-back and was tied in a braid. Her outfit consisted of a Britannian Air Force jacket with a green undershirt, knee-high striped stockings which were colored dark red and light green, brown shoes, and white panties. This girl was Delia M. Jeram, the only Britannian in the 508th JFW.

The fourth girl was a 15-year old Liberian who had shoulder-length red hair and unusual yellow eyes. Like Cecilia, she was wearing a blue Liberion Navy uniform, but was wearing a green undershirt beneath it. She was also wearing green panties, white ankle-high socks, and black shoes. This girl was Jamie E. Swett.

The fifth girl was also a 15-year old Liberian, but she had pale blonde hair that was slightly longer than Jamie's, as well as bright green eyes. She was wearing a blue Liberion Marine Corps jacket with a camouflage-print undershirt which was custom-made by her request, blue panties, white socks, and black shoes. This girl was Dorothy Baker.

The sixth girl was a 17-year old Fusojin who had unusual strawberry blonde hair that went to her waist and bright red eyes. She was wearing a white Fusoan Navy jacket, white socks, white shoes, and swimmers underneath the jacket. There was also a Fuso Sword in its' sheathe strapped to her back. This girl was Shouko Matsuda.

The seventh and final girl was a 19-year old Fusojin who had long black hair that was tied in a ponytail and gray eyes. Like Shouko, she was also wearing a white Fusoan Navy jacket, but she was wearing blue socks and brown shoes, and a white swimsuit underneath the jacket. This girl was Sadae Komura.

Dorothy was the first to notice Jane T.'s teary eyes. "Oh, come on Jane; there's no need for the birthday girl to be sad."

"I'm pretty sure we surprised her." Sadae said with a smile.

Jamie smirked in amusement at what Sadae just said. "Yeah, first your birthday that was yesterday, and now we have Jane's birthday today. She must have forgotten that hers is only a single day apart from yours, Sadae."

"Be nice, Jamie." Delia said. "This is supposed to be a happy day for all of us, especially for Wing Commander Jane."

"Yup~! You only turn 24 once, after all!" Takami said cheerfully.

"Amen to that." Shouko said to herself, but the others heard it.

"Come on, Jane. Make a wish and blow out the candles already!" Cecilia whined playfully.

Jane T. looked at the Witches once more, before wiping the tears out of her eyes. "Everyone… thank you…" With that said, she approached the cake, which she now noticed had 24 lit candles on top of it. She closed her eyes and silently thought to herself. _'My one wish… is that the Aeolia Principles can finally be achieved.'_ Then, she blew out the candles, even as she remembered when Celestial Being explained about who they were and what they were fighting for.

* * *

_Flashback, Three Years Ago_

_Jane's POV_

_I was still trying to get accustomed to my new surroundings. Just ten days ago, I was recruited into this organization called Celestial Being by a man named Tieria Erde. When I first joined, I only thought that it was an experimental Witch unit._

_Boy, was I wrong or what?_

_Turns out, Celestial Being was a paramilitary organization that was far bigger than I thought it was… and they had technology so advanced that the researchers at Neue Karlsland would drool over. In fact, it was because of said tech that I'm where I'm at right now, even as I stared out at the stars from the window of the ship I was in. If I remember correctly, then this ship is called the _Exodus_, a Nile-class battleship that was currently in space._

_Yeah, that's right; this was a space battleship that I'm in, and it's currently a part of the 4__th__ ESF Orbital Defense Fleet, which was in orbit above Earth._

_I was brought out of my trance when I heard a voice behind me. "Jane Thatch, I believe it's time for you to know a little more about us."_

_I spun around, having to use the hand rails to keep myself oriented due to the microgravity as I came face to face with the person who recruited me, Tieria Erde. "What do you mean by that?" I asked him._

_I saw him pull out one of those PDA's that everyone else on this ship had and gently throw it in my direction. "Everything you need to know has been uploaded onto that PDA. A Haro will provide any assistance that you may need." As he said this, I saw a metallic purple ball float its way into the room, flapping its "ears" as it did so. I was able to identify it as a Haro, one of the (in my opinion) cute robotic companions that those of a higher ranking possess. The Haro in front of me most likely belonged to Tieria due to their matching colors, but I didn't care about that for the moment._

_A chance to learn the history of a paramilitary organization, especially one like Celestial Being, was too good to pass up. With some help from Tieria's Haro (okay, a lot of help) I began looking through the data._

* * *

_I've been looking through the data for an hour now… and to say I was shocked would have been the understatement of the century._

_They came here from an alternate world, which had a disturbingly similar history compared to this one, but there were a few differences, most of which happened to revolve around they not having any magic whatsoever. _

_The biggest difference, though, was what they call World War II._

_Even now as I continued to look at the history of said war, I couldn't believe how humans could be cruel to one another. The Holocaust caused by the Germans (their world's version of Karlslanders), what the Japanese (their world's version of Fusojins) did to their POW's (which to my horror included any captured civilians), and finally the Americans (their world's version of Liberians) unleashing a power never before seen in the form of two atomic bombs, each with enough power to destroy an entire city._

_What truly horrified me was that the Americans had actually dropped said bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing the Second World War to an end._

_The more I looked at this particular set of data, the more I see our war with the Neuroi as a blessing in disguise. _'At least we aren't fighting each other…'_ I thought to myself as I began reading about the Korean War._

* * *

_It's been around five more hours according to the Haro that was helping me use the PDA, and I had just reached the point where a person named Aeolia Schenberg was designing a new type of engine called a "GN Drive". To my surprise, there was a video file attached to the data. With some help from Haro, I opened the file and began to watch it._

* * *

Video

2091 A.D., Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean

General POV

On a lonely island in the Pacific Ocean was a large mansion **(A.N.: I'm not really sure what it is, but I'm calling it a mansion)**, in which were two men talking to each other.

The first man looked to be in his early forties and had brown hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat with a purple shirt underneath it. He was also wearing a pair of round glasses, white pants, as well as black shoes. This man was Aeolia Schenberg, the founder of Celestial Being.

The second man looked to be in his early twenties and had green hair and purple eyes. He was wearing a black business suit, a white undershirt beneath it, black pants, and brown shoes. This man was Eternal Alan Ray, or E. A. Ray for short.

"The discovery of new fundamental particles that can transmit one's consciousness. The theory of a semi-perpetual engine that generates those particles. The invention of a quantum-type processing system. The proposal for a solar power generation system based on the construction of orbital elevators." E. A. Ray said as he looked through Aeolia's database of ideas. "Every one of these outstanding technologies would make life better for humanity. But I always thought you hated humans; Isn't that why you live on this solitary island?"

"What I hate are people who misuse their intelligence," Aeolia replied to his friend. "The ones who get caught up in their own personal beliefs and prejudices and lose sight of the truth. It leads to misunderstandings, followed by discord and then by conflict. All I want is understanding between people… Humans must learn to apply their intelligence correctly and evolve beyond their current. People must change, otherwise even if humanity expands into space it will only create new conflicts."

"So that's the kind of world you seek." Ray said back.

"Humans must learn to apply their intelligence correctly and evolve beyond their current state." Aeolia then turned on his chair to look at Ray. "People must change, otherwise even if humanity expands into space, it will only create new conflicts… and that would be a very sad thing."

"Aeolia Schenberg." Ray said to his friend with a smile, showing that he had faith in him.

Video End

* * *

_So… that's why Celestial Being was created. _

_It wasn't only to eradicate war… but also to guide humanity through its supposed next step of evolution as they colonize space._

"_Haro… is this next step in human evolution even possible?" I asked the metallic ball._

_In response, it pulled up another set of data. Reading through it, my eyes widened in shock; apparently, there were already humans who had evolved into the next step, and were known as Purebred Innovators. What shocked me even more was that approximately 75% of all personnel within Celestial Being were Innovators._

_Although I was shocked, I decided to get back on track, and looked through Celestial Being's recent history._

* * *

_It took me three more hours… and to say I was shocked was again an understatement._

_The armed interventions that Celestial Being undertook against the three blocks – the Union, AEU, and the HRL – were astonishing, showing the power of the four Generation 3 Gundams. However, there were things going on behind the scenes that even Celestial Being didn't know about; the Trinities, the traitor named Alejandro Corner, the Innovade named Ribbons Almark, the A-LAWS (who in my opinion were just like the Nazis of their world's Germany), and finally how they were forced to abandon their reality's Earth to flee from the invading ELSes after the Dialogues-to-Come failed._

_It all made sense now; Celestial Being was trying to prevent the same mistakes that they and the humans of their world made, and they would have started by bringing a swift end to our world's WWII if it had happened; instead, the Neuroi showed up, and through observational footage one of their scouts managed to acquire, humans lashed out against the unknown threat, causing the Neuroi to retaliate and start the war._

_The only good thing about that particular event was that WWII never happened. Unfortunately, Celestial Being arrived too late to stop the First World War._

_There was one more piece of data I still haven't looked at. Opening it, I saw that it was a short list._

_**The Aeolia Principles**_

_**Unite the world under one banner through the use of the armed interventions.**_

_**Watch over the world as humanity advances into space, and perform armed interventions only when needed.**_

_**Make contact with a yet unknown sentient race and initiate the Dialogues-to-Come.**_

_So these are the Aeolia Principles… interesting. The more I looked at all the data, the more I'm enticed to help make this a reality._

_I suddenly became aware that I wasn't alone in the room, and I looked up only to see Tieria standing next to me. "Is there something you need?" I asked him._

"_I take it you've finished reading through the data?" He asked back._

_I answered with a nod, and gave him his PDA back._

_He pocketed the PDA, and presented me with a tray of food. "You became too absorbed in reading the data that you missed lunch and dinner. Aren't you hungry?"_

_Wait… did I really miss out on those two meals?_

_As if answering my question, my stomach let out a loud roar, causing me to blush deep red in embarrassment. _

_Tieria chuckled in amusement, and left the tray of food to float in front of me. "Go ahead and eat up; I'm pretty sure you need the food right now."_

_I nodded in thanks, and snatched the floating cutlery and tray from the air, beginning my meal as soon as I did so._

_Around twenty minutes later, I was finished with my meal. I was surprised, though, to see that Tieria was still here, but what caught me off-guard was the fact that his eyes were glowing a golden color. "What's up with your eyes?" I asked before I could stop myself._

_His eyes stopped glowing a moment later. "I was consulting with Veda to determine your position within Celestial Being. It would seem as though you would fit the role of an observer agent the most due to the connections in high places you possess, as well as your proposals to the top brass to form a carrier-based Joint Fighter Wing. However, your leadership skills are also good enough for you to lead your own squadron of Mobile Suits if you desire to do so."_

_So those were my choices. I began to think really hard about it, and came up with my conclusion ten minutes later. I turned to Tieria as I made up my mind. "I would like…"_

_Flashback End_

* * *

_General POV, Mighty Witches_

Jane T. smiled as she remembered the decision she made three years ago. Although she was currently an observer agent, she was also the leader of the Overflags, a squadron of elite Witches who all piloted SVMS-01O Over Flags and their variants, the SVMS-01OA Over Flag Astro Package Type, the SVMS-01OSG Over Flag Ground Package Shell Type (a variant of the Over Flag recently designed for ground combat use), and the SVMS-01OAS Over Flag Aero Sky Package Type (a variant of the Over Flag that was also recently designed, but this variant was dedicated to aerial combat, and was faster than the regular Over Flag).

"Jane, Jane, Jane~! Tell us what you wished for~!" Cecilia said excitedly.

"Heehee, sorry, but that's a secret~!" Jane T. said back with an equal amount of playfulness, something that caused Cecilia to pout.

Mie shot the gun she was holding into the air, but instead of a bullet, confetti came out.

Jane just looked at her friend with wide eyes. "M-M-Mie?! Do you have any idea how much that thing scared me?!"

The Fusojin scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry…" She apologized while getting a knife from the kitchen.

"Just 'sorry' isn't going to cut it this time!"

"Come on, somebody cut the cake already!" Takami exclaimed.

Shouko whacked the energetic Fusoan on the head. "Learn some patience." Shouko scolded, causing Takami to whine.

Delia giggled at the display as she began to cut the cake after taking the knife from Mie. "Now, who wants cake?"

* * *

It's been several hours since the party, and Mie, Shouko, Takami, and Sadae were currently flying on patrol.

"Hey, Sadae." Takami said to her friend. "What's it like being 19 years old?"

"I'm not sure…" She replied. "I still feel the same as I did two days ago."

"Not surprising." Shouko said with an even voice. "A person doesn't simply change in the blink of an eye when they age another year."

"That's a good point." Mie commented.

"That's not what I meant!" Takami yelled.

"Oh? Then please do tell us what you meant, Takami." Sadae said with a smile.

"E-Ehh?! Well, umm… what I meant was…" Takami tried to come up with an explanation, but was saved when the _Lexington_'s radar officer contacted them.

"_Attention Witches on patrol. We have a Neuroi contact bearing 3-1-5, altitude 5,000. Change your course to bearing 2-9-0 from your current position to intercept."_

"Roger that, _Lexington_. Changing course to intercept." Even as Mie said this, she executed a smooth turn to the correct bearing with the other three Witches right behind her.

The four Witches continued to fly on their current course for 13 minutes before Mie spotted a black glint in the distance. "Neuroi spotted. Commencing intercept." She reported through the transponder as she, Shouko, Takami, and Sadae corrected their course slightly so as to intercept the Neuroi from an optimal angle. But when they were just reaching firing range, the Neuroi, which looked like an oversized bomber of some sort, dropped twenty drones from its lower fuselage, which started to attack the Witches mercilessly.

The four Witches were immediately put on the defensive as they began to evade the oncoming beams and return fire at the drones, which proved to be more agile than expected as they dodged most of the bullets; only one of the drones was shot down in the initial barrage.

"This is Squadron Leader Mie! The Neuroi has launched more than a dozen or so drones! We need back-up if we want to get to the core!"

"_This is Captain Matsubara Hiroshi of the _Shoukaku_. Roger, we're sending fighters to assist-"_ But before Hiroshi could finish, he was interrupted by the radar control officer.

"_Sir, we've just detected five more Neuroi approaching from vectors 0-9-5 and 2-0-7!"_

"_What?! Launch all fighters and combat-capable Witches to intercept them now!"_

Mie and the other three Witches couldn't believe their ears; it was a tri-pronged attack by the Neuroi, and they were already having enough problems to begin with. "Alright, girls! We have to take that thing down _now!_"

"Right!" The other three exclaimed as the four charged into the fray, keeping each other covered as they did so.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

In space, Carla and Michiko were beginning atmospheric entry procedures using their Haros to assist them. "Carla, have you read the tactical plan that Miss Sumeragi sent us?" Michiko asked her Liberian partner through the communications network.

"Yeah, yeah. I've read it already." Carla said back. "Since Virtue has a higher defensive capabilities and a stronger GN Field than the Kyrios, you're entering the battle first since you can just charge straight through the atmosphere without burning up. You tango with the Neuroi for a few minutes until I finally arrive to get the drop on the black and red suckers. We then wreck the Neuroi's plans and bug out once we've finished them off."

"Uhh… yeah, that's it in a nutshell." The Fusoan sighed, before turning to her light purple Haro which was nestled in its docking port. "Haro, begin atmospheric entry procedures."

"BEGINNING PROCEDURES! BEGINNING PROCEDURES!" The Haro exclaimed. "GN FIELD! GN FIELD!"

The GN Field emitters on the Virtue opened up and began emitting GN particles in the shape of a spherical GN Field that surrounded the Gundam. With the barrier in place, Michiko charged into the atmosphere as fast as she could, with Carla following as close as she can with her own GN Field active.

* * *

_General POV, Mighty Witches_

Back at the fleet, the ships were putting up a wall of AA fire directed at the incoming Neuroi, the sheer amount of bullets and shells managing to shoot down five enemy drones that had just deployed from one of the Neuroi. However, it cost the fleet two destroyers and a light cruiser when the Neuroi managed to get within firing range of their beams. The _USS Lexington_, _HMS Victorious_, and the _Shoukaku_ were launching their fighters to assist the airborne Witches, whom consisted of Cecilia, Delia, Jamie, and Dorothy; Jane T. had very little magic left due to her age, so she was unable to fly.

That didn't mean she was idle, though; she was constantly observing the situation through a set of binoculars and updating the nearby Witches about what was happening, as well as prioritizing targets.

Cecilia rolled to the left to dodge another barrage of beams, then returned fire with her M1919A6 machine gun, managing to damage one of the drones that shot at her. A lucky shot from a heavy cruiser's 12cm high angle gun finished the job. Cecilia looked down at the ship responsible for the shot, and laid her eyes on the _Takao_. She made a mental note to thank the crew of the ship later as she focused her attention on another drone that was trying to get past her.

Delia, meanwhile, was firing her Lewis automatic rifle at another drone in short bursts to help conserve ammunition, and managed to destroy it after firing four times. Seeing that her current enemy was defeated, she turned her attention to the next drone, but instinct screamed at her to put up a shield behind her. Doing so, she blocked a beam that she wouldn't have had time to dodge coming from her right. Turning her head in that direction, she saw two more drones that were gunning for her. Gritting her teeth, she disengaged the drone she was currently fighting to combat the new threat.

Jamie was dual-wielding her two M3A1 submachine guns and firing away at a drone. She managed to destroy it with ease, but she saw that some of the _Lexington_'s F6F Hellcats were in trouble with a few more drones. She quickly turned to assist her fellow countrymen, but one of them was clipped by a beam before she could get the drones off their tail. The slightly damaged Hellcat swerved wildly to the left then straight down, but the drones ignored him. Enraged, Jamie opened fire at the drones and managed to destroy one of them, attracting the attention of the other two. As they headed towards her, the two drones were suddenly shot at from below, the bullets managing to destroy one of them while damaging the other. Jamie looked down momentarily and saw the slightly damaged Hellcat climbing madly, ready to get back into the fray. Smirking to herself in pride of her fellow countryman, she opened fire on the damaged drone, managing to destroy it.

Dorothy, the sniper of the 508th, was keeping back from the fight and taking careful aim at another drone that had wandered into her sights with her M1 Garand. Pulling the trigger, she fired a 30-06 Springfield 7.62×63mm bullet, which shot out of the barrel and straight through the drone, destroying it in a single shot. She took a quick look at her surroundings, and rolled away from a barrage of beams that one of the main Neuroi bombers shot at her. Gritting her teeth, she made a move to go after it, but the Neuroi suddenly dropped twenty more drones from its belly. Dorothy's eyes widened in horror as she began to weave and evade wildly, using a shield every five to ten seconds to keep herself from getting killed.

The F6F Hellcats, Supermarine Seafires, Sea Hurricane Mk XIIA's, and A6M6c Type 0 Model 53c's were fighting to the best of their ability, cooperating with each other and giving the Neuroi drones a hard time, however, they too were beginning to be shot down; one unlucky Zero pilot didn't even have time to blink as one moment he was dodging one beam, then the next moment another beam strikes his plane from underneath and directly through the cockpit, killing him instantly.

Unknown to the airborne Witches above the fleet, however, the sixth Neuroi, which had managed to break through Mie's formation, suddenly surged forward, intending to fire upon the _USS Lexington _at point blank range. Mie, Shouko, Takami, and Sadae were still pursuing the Neuroi, but they wouldn't make it in time.

Jane T. was still observing the situation and coordinating the serial combatants when she heard the alert of another Neuroi approaching from the starboard side. Since she was on the port side of the carrier _Lexington_, she had to run over to the other side of the ship, something which was easy because she was on the flight deck. When she reached the starboard side, she looked through the binoculars… and was horrified to see a Neuroi charging directly at the ship.

The Neuroi was closing the distance fast, and once it reached a distance of 1,500 meters, it fired a charged beam directly at the _Lexington_.

Jane T.'s eyes shot open in terror at the approaching red beam of death, but right before it could hit the carrier (which would have been an area directly beneath her) a sphere of glittering green light dropped down from the sky in front of her, blocking the beam.

She looked at the green sphere of particles with wide eyes, already knowing what it was… but the rest of the fleet, including the Witches and the opposing Neuroi, stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to the strange phenomenon.

After four seconds, though, the sphere dissipated, revealing the form of a massive, heavily-armored humanoid machine that was defying gravity and floating in midair, had green particles coming out of its back… and there was a huge rectangular weapon of some kind being held by both of its hands, the interior of which was glowing a pink color.

'_But isn't that… the Virtue?!'_ Jane T. thought to herself in shock; she hadn't expected Celestial Being to make such a bold move in revealing themselves like this.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

As Michiko was descending upon the battlefield, she saw a Neuroi break through a formation of four Witches and charge right for one of the carriers. "Well, I guess that's my first target." The native-born Fusojin said to herself before shifting her eyes to the Haro in front of her. "Haro, keep the GN Field active; we're going to make a flashy entrance." This she said with a grin on her face.

Yoshika wasn't the only one who wanted to make Celestial Being's grand debut to the world stylish.

"ROGER! ROGER!" Exclaimed the purple Haro, even as Michiko moved the GN Bazooka to the front of the Virtue and began to charge it while having the Gundam drop down into the fight. Michiko observed her target's movements and deduced that it was trying to fire a point blank beam at one of the carriers.

Well, she wasn't going to let that happen anytime soon.

Right as the Neuroi fired its deadly beam at the carrier, Michiko moved the Virtue to intercept it with its GN Field still active, blocking it with ease as the Gundam was barely pushed back an inch.

"Heh, it'll take a whole lot more than that to beat me." Michiko said to herself, disengaging the GN Field as she locked onto her target with the GN Bazooka. "Virtue has locked onto the target. Releasing all compressed particles!" With that, Michiko pulled the trigger.

An enormous pink beam made of GN particles was fired from the bazooka straight at the targeted Neuroi, which didn't have any time to react before the beam plowed straight through it, destroying it in an instant.

* * *

_General POV, Mighty Witches_

Everybody was shocked into silence at what they just witnessed; a machine, which looked like something that had come straight out of a science fiction novel, had first dropped from the sky while blocking a strong Neuroi beam with a strange green light, then proceeds to fire its own beam – and a ridiculously large one at that – and destroyed the offending Neuroi with only a single shot.

"Wha… What is that thing…?!" Dorothy tried to contact her friends, but she only got static. In response to this, she flew over to the other airborne Witches who had converged together.

"Just what is that thing?!" Jamie exclaimed, even as the Neuroi and the drones turned their undivided attention against the new threat and began firing at the machine, which just floated there and erected another green sphere of light to protect itself.

When the sphere dissipated, the beam cannon that it was holding with both hands was glowing again, and with careful aim, fired in the general direction of the Witches.

The airborne Witches panicked for a moment, but were surprised when the beam went past them… and a few seconds later, they heard the distinct sound of a Neuroi shattering behind them. Looking in that direction for a moment, they saw the familiar white shards of a Neuroi that had just been destroyed.

They couldn't believe it; a Neuroi had managed to sneak up on them, and if it wasn't for the beam that the machine shot at it, they would have likely been dead by now.

Several drones decided to try their luck against the machine, but before they could fire, the two black areas on the knees popped open and opened fire on the drones, destroying each in a single shot as well as revealing that they were in fact knee-mounted beam cannons.

"What the hell?!" several of the Witches exclaimed at the same time.

The Neuroi seemed to be pissed off that the newcomer was making short work of them, so they decided to gang up on the machine. This in turn forced said machine to maneuver in ways that something of that size shouldn't be able to do; although it was bulky, the machine had maneuverability which rivaled, if not superior, to that of a fairly skilled Witch.

The pilots of the fighter planes, meanwhile, were just as shocked and confused as the Witches and the fleet were.

The Neuroi were keeping some distance between themselves and the machine, but that couldn't be said for the drones, which were vectored to attack it in close range.

That would also prove to be a mistake.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

Michiko gritted her teeth as she was forced to dodge yet another barrage of beams, although she couldn't help but smirk at the fact that the Neuroi were now focusing entirely on her.

It would make Carla's entrance all the more unexpected.

"Alright, come and get me." The Fusojin said to herself as she continued to dodge enemy beam fire, making sure to return the favor with her knee-mounted GN Cannons whenever she got the chance.

She then noticed the five main Neuroi pull back, while the drones charged straight at her.

"Trying to take on the Virtue at close range? I'd like to see you try! Fangs, fly!" Michiko yelled, her eyes glowing a golden color as her Quantum Brainwaves took command of the eight GN Fangs that were launched from the Gundam. With practiced ease, she vectored them and launched a multi-directional attack against the drones while charging the bazooka for another shot, this time aiming it at one of the five main Neuroi bombers.

* * *

_General POV, Mighty Witches_

The jaws of almost everybody dropped when the unknown machine suddenly launched eight drones of its own, but these were controlled with the skill of a pro and were propelled by the same green particles that the machine had coming out of its back. The GN Fangs started firing at the Neuroi drones from multiple angles, managing to destroy 13 of them before they broke formation in an attempt to evade their attackers.

But the GN Fangs were faster and far more maneuverable than the drones they were going after, so it didn't matter how hard the Neuroi drones tried to evade their pursuers.

It seemed as though the five main Neuroi were really pissed off now, and they launched more than 100 drones each to try and destroy the unknown machine once and for all. But before the third Neuroi could finish launching all of its drones, it and the drones it had just launched were destroyed by another shot from the machine's beam cannon. The remaining four Neuroi moved their drones to overwhelm the machine's eight drones, which then did something completely unexpected.

The eight GN Fangs formed up in a circular formation with their pointed ends facing outwards, then started spinning around the center of their formation in a circular pattern, maintaining said pattern even as they started maneuvering wildly while firing beams. This unorthodox attack pattern was surprisingly effective, as one Neuroi drone after another were continuously being shot down.

Now the Witches were envious; if their Strikers could fly like that, then shooting down Neuroi would be a whole lot easier.

Apparently, the four main Neuroi had had enough, and they charged into the fray even as two more Neuroi entered the battlefield from the north.

However, before the two new arrivals could open fire, a large number of pink beams rained down on them, destroying one and inflicting major damage to the other.

The eyes of the Witches widened in shock as they looked up, only to spot an orange and white fighter plane diving into the fight… and it was the most advanced-looking fighter plane they had ever seen.

'_The Kyrios, too? So I guess this is Celestial Being's grand debut, then.'_ Jane T. thought to herself, internally smiling at the thought of being able to help in the war her own way soon.

Being an observer agent as well as being the commander of an elite Mobile Suit squadron certainly had its perks.

The damaged Neuroi began to regenerate its armor as it fired a barrage of beams at the orange fighter, but said fighter easily rolled out of the way before doing an impossibly tight turn, which almost made it look like it was drifting in midair. The fighter returned fire with its nose-mounted cannon, destroying even more of the armor and revealing the core, but not quite destroying it.

And that's when said fighter did something they never thought possible.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

Carla sat impatiently in the Kyrios, waiting to arrive at the battlefield. "Are we there yet, Haro? I don't want to let Yamakawa have all the fun!"

"NEARLY THERE! NEARLY THERE!" the metallic orange ball said, even as the Kyrios finished atmospheric re-entry protocols.

Carla grinned. "About time. Now let's see what we're up against…" Using the Kyrios' sensors, she zoomed the image onto the battlefield and took a good look. She saw that there were five Neuroi bombers… well, there were five, until the Virtue fired its GN Bazooka at one of them, taking it and a whole squadron of drones out in a single shot.

Something else got her attention; apparently, Michiko had already revealed her GN Fangs, as they were spinning around one another and tearing apart the enemy drone units with minimal difficulty.

"Now which one should I target…?" Carla said to herself as she looked at the four remaining Neuroi bombers.

"ENEMY APPROACHING! ENEMY APPROACHING!" Her Haro suddenly called out, pulling up an image of two more Neuroi approaching from the north.

Carla grinned; she had just found her Gundam's first targets. "Heads up, Yamakawa; there are two more approaching from the north. I'll take care of them." She said over the private channel she shared with her partner.

"You do that, and I'll keep these bad boys busy for a while longer. After that, think you can deal with the rest of the drones? They're starting to get on my nerves." Michiko said back, even as she recalled her GN Fangs to recharge them while engaging her GN Field to protect herself.

"Heh, no problem." With that, Carla had the Kyrios, which was currently in its Fighter form, dive onto the two new Neuroi and opened fire with her GN Beam Gatling Cannon, easily destroying one of them while inflicting major damage to the other.

Pulling out of her dive, she spun the orange Gundam around for another attack run, easily evading the beams fired at her and returning the favor with the GN Gatling, managing to reveal the core of the Neuroi but not quite managing to destroy it.

"Heads up, Carla; several drones are headed your way!" Michiko called out, warning her partner of the incoming danger.

Carla took a quick look at her surroundings, before seeing several drones break of their attack on the Virtue and started heading her way. "Thanks for the heads up. Guess I'd better finish this one off, then." With that, she transformed the Kyrios into its Mobile Suit mode and fired her GN Twin Beam Rifle directly at the exposed core of the Neuroi she was targeting, destroying it in one shot.

She then turned her attention to the incoming drones and opened fire with both the rifle and the two hip-mounted GN Submachine Guns.

* * *

_General POV, Mighty Witches_

Suddenly, the unknown fighter's began to shift and transform, until it looked almost exactly like the first unknown machine.

"It… it _TRANSFORMED?!_" Mie exclaimed in shock; just what were those machines?!

They saw the second unknown machine open fire at the drones with what appeared to be hip-mounted beam machine guns, easily taking them out of the picture, before transforming back into its fighter form and charging towards the numerous Neuroi drones which were constantly firing at the first machine, which was forced to use its barrier to constantly block the huge number of beams that were trying to pierce through its defenses. They also noticed that the first machine recalled its drones for some reason.

The fighter opened fire on the drones as soon as it closed the distance, managing to shoot down 53 of them as it blitzed through their formation. This in turn caused the rest of the drones to switch targets, the fighter now being their top priority.

That, however, proved to be a mistake; the first machine dispelled its barrier and opened fire with a charged shot from its beam cannon, taking down one of the remaining four Neuroi bombers. This in turn also caused around 61 drones to suddenly shatter, their connection to their mothership being severed.

The orange fighter transformed again, and used its double-barrel beam rifle to fire a few shots at one of the three remaining Neuroi bombers, making them open fire at the second machine, which evaded the shots with a grace that no Witch could match in a Striker Unit. The orange machine transformed into a fighter again, charging at the Neuroi while opening up with the beam guns on the bottom of the fuselage, the twin beam rifle on the right side of its body, and the nose-mounted beam cannon. In one pass, it had managed to inflict moderate to major damage to two of the bombers, which the bulky machine finished off with two shots from its left shoulder-mounted beam cannon. This in turn reduced the number of enemy drone units to 31… that is, until the transforming fighter turned back around and opened up with another salvo from its beam weapons, reducing the number to a measly four drones.

The last Neuroi apparently had enough and turned to run, but the fighter took off after it as the bulky machine started charging its main beam cannon to finish it off. After around five seconds of charging, the bulky machine fired its cannon off into the distance, managing to score a bulls-eye on the Neuroi if the distant white flakes were anything to go by.

The Witches (except Jane T., who is acting along), as well as the entire fleet were stunned at what they had just witnessed; two unknown machines, each possessing technology so advanced that they doubted even Neue Karlsland would be able to produce such machines.

The bulky machine looked around at the fleet, even as the fighter soared overhead and flew off to the east. A few seconds later, the bulky machine followed the fighter off into the distance.

The Witches looked at each other, all sharing the same thought. _'What just happened?'_ Deciding to ask their commander, the eight airborne Witches turned to land on the _Lexington_ to consult with Jane T. Once they landed, the eight walked up to her. "Commander… what _were_ those things?!" Mie all but shouted; she was still shocked at what she had just witnessed.

After seeing something like that, who wouldn't be?

Jane T.'s eyes narrowed in thought. "I'm not sure myself… but I did manage to get a glimpse of a word on the big one."

"A word… well, what was it?" Takami asked, the other seven Witches nodding as they too wanted to know.

Jane T. seemed to be thinking about how to pronounce the word if the way her mouth was silently moving was anything to go by. "The word… was Gundam."

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

In the cockpit of the Kyrios, Carla sulked. "Yamakawa, did you really have to steal that kill of mine?"

Michiko giggled. "Sorry for stealing your kill, but the drones from that specific one were the ones that were irritating me the most."

"So it was retribution then, huh?" the Liberian asked. "Well, if that's the case, then I won't argue with you."

"Thanks, Carla. So, you know where to go now?" Michiko asked her partner to confirm it.

"Yeah; some place called Sahara Base Alpha that's located in Africa. There's even a map to guide us there on a screen in front of me!" Carla said out of excitement; she was having a blast piloting the Kyrios, especially in combat.

She would pilot a Gundam over a Striker Unit any day.

"Correct. Now come on; Yoshika, Lynne, and the Ptolemy will be there as well, the latter of which will have some more equipment for us." The native-born Fusojin said as she piloted the Virtue on course towards the base, even as Carla in the Kyrios followed closely.

"More equipment for the Kyrios? Now this I got to see!" the Liberian exclaimed.

* * *

**A/N: And this concludes chapter 3. Took a little longer to write than I expected. Anyway, here are the specs of the machines that debuted in this chapter.**

* * *

**1) AEU-09MD AEU Enact Drone Type**

**Model number: **AEU-09MD

**Unit type: **Mass Production Unmanned Transformable Aerial Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

AEU05/05 AEU Hellion Perpetuum

SMVS-01 Union Flag

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **

AEU-09 AEU/MD Enact Space Drone Type

AEU-09/LSMD AEU Enact Landstriker Drone Type

**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being Mobile Suit Factory

**Operators: **Celestial Being, ESF

**Power-plant: **Solar Energy System + E-Carbon Armor (stores Hydrogen)

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor

**Armaments:**

20mm Machine Gun (mounted next to where the drum cockpit would have been)

Defense Rod - A standard defensive feature of AEU and Union Mobile Suits. The defense rod is a rotating rod usually connected to the elbow joint of the Mobile Suit's left arm. Using rotary motion, the rod is capable of deflecting certain physical rounds such as bullets from a machine gun and in some cases a shot from a beam rifle by generating a plasma field. Compared to a conventional shield, the defense rod is lighter as the Flag has to maintain its speed advantage and maneuverability during combat.

Linear Rifle

2 x Sonic Blade (Plasma Sword)

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Mobile Drone Control System

Visor AI

Chaff &amp; Flare Dispenser

"Veda-based Operating System"

* * *

**2) SVMS-01MD Union Flag Drone Type**

**Model number: **SVMS-01MD

**Unit type: **Mass Production Unmanned Transformable Aerial Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

YMS-01A Union Flag

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **

SVMS-01AS/MD Union Flag Aero Sky Package Drone Type

SVMS-01OP/MD Union Flag Orbit Package Drone Type

SMVS-01SG/MD Union Flag Ground Package Shell Drone Type

SVMS-01AP/MD Union Flag Orbit Package Colony Guard Drone Type

SVMS-010A/MD Over Flag Astro Package Drone Type

**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being Mobile Suit Factory

**Operators: **Celestial Being, ESF

**Power-plant: **Solar Energy System + E-carbon Armor (stores Hydrogen)

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor

**Armaments:**

20mm Machine Gun (mounted next to where the drum cockpit would have been)

Defense Rod - A standard defensive feature of AEU and Union Mobile Suits. The defense rod is a rotating rod usually connected to the elbow joint of the Mobile Suit's left arm. Using rotary motion, the rod is capable of deflecting certain physical rounds such as bullets from a machine gun and in some cases a shot from a beam rifle by generating a plasma field. Compared to a conventional shield, the defense rod is lighter as the Flag has to maintain its speed advantage and maneuverability during combat.

Linear Rifle

2 x Sonic Blade (Plasma Sword)

Missiles (Air-to-air, Air-to-surface, Surface-to-Surface)

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Mobile Drone Control System

Visor AI

Hardpoint (for extra missiles)

Chaff &amp; Flare Dispenser

"Veda-based Operating System"

* * *

**3) GNMA-Y0001MP/D Empruss Mass Production Drone Type**

**Model number: **GNMA-Y0001MP-D

**Unit type: **Mass Production Unmanned Assault Mobile Armor

**Developed from: **

GNMA-Y0001 Empruss

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **none

**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being Mobile Suit Factory

**Operators: **Celestial Being, ESF

**Power-plant: **Solar Energy System + 2 x GN Drive Tau II

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Armaments:**

GN Particle Cannon - A powerful beam cannon that uses a large amount of concentrated GN particles. It is a weapon reminiscent of the Alvatore's main weapon, although it is unlikely that the Empress's particle cannon can match the Alvatore's in terms of power or recharge rate since it has few GN Tau Drives. However, since the Empruss MP/D is powered by two GN Drive Tau II's as well as the Solar Energy System, it possesses a faster recharge time than the Alvatore's GN Particle Cannon.

4 x GN Beam Cannons (Two mounted on top of the unit, and the other two are mounted on the bottom)

2 x GN Vulcans (1 on each arm)

2 x Grappler Arms - The Empress is equipped with two forward mounted pincer-like claws. The claws are mounted on arms normally stored within the mobile armor's body and can shoot out Egner Whips.

• 2 x Egner Whip - The Egner Whips are oval shaped shells attached to the claws by a long wire and are capable of penetrating GN Fields and once in proximity with enemy Mobile Suits it releases four more conductive wires, all charged with high voltage electricity. The Egner Whips can be used in conjunction with the particle cannon in a devastating combo where the wires ensnare and disable a target, leaving them open to be hit by the powerful beam of the particle cannon.

2 x Anti-Ship GN Sword - The two "wings" of the Empruss are actually large GN Swords, useful for slicing enemy battleships, Mobile Suits, or Neuroi.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

GN Field

Mobile Drone Control System

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

* * *

**4) ****Takemikazuchi-class  
Namesake: **Takemikazuchi  
**Unit type: **Sea Carrier**  
Ships of the Line: **Unknown**  
Manufacturer: **Morgenroete**  
Operators: **Celestial Being ESF Branch

**Power-plant:**

Solar Energy System + GN Drive Tau II  
GN Drive Tau II (unconnected to ship, held in reserve for ship)

**Ship accommodations:  
**Command Bridge  
Cafeteria &amp; Mess Hall  
Living-quarters  
Conference Room  
Medical Bay  
Bathing and Shower Hall  
3 x Mobile Weapons Hangar  
6 x Catapult Launcher  
MS Capacity: 60  
**  
Armor: **E-Carbon

**Armaments:**

Chemical Bing Depth Charges  
2 x 10m-Grade Dual GN Laser Cannon  
46 x GN Missile Launcher  
4 x GN Torpedo Launcher  
10 x Anti-Air Laser Phalanx  
6 x GN Flak Cannon

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Enhanced Sensors  
E-Sonar  
Pulse Compression Subsurface Radar  
Stealth System  
• Optical Camouflage  
• High GN particle  
Tight-beam Ultrasonic Scanner

**Optional Equipment:**

none**  
**

**Mobile Weapons:****  
**

8 x AEU-09MD AEU Enact Drone Type

8 x SVMS-01MD Union Flag Drone Type

4 x CBY-077MP/D GN Cannon Mass Production Drone Type

10 x GNX-609T GN-XIII

10 x GNX-612T/AA Superbia GN-X

10 x GNX-803T GN-XIV

3 x GNZ-003 Gadessa

3 x GNZ-005 Garazzo

4 x GNZ-007 Gaddess

** Innovative Strikers: **

? x GINN

? x GINN Assault Type

? x GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type

? x CGUE

? x CGUE Assault Type

? x CGUE DEEP Arms


	4. Chapter 4: Helvetia

**00 WITCHES**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Chapter 4: Helvetia**

* * *

_April 20__th__, 1945_

_Africa, Sahara Base Alpha_

_General POV, Celestial Being_

It's been a day since the Gundams made their grand debut to the world, and the Meisters were currently in the mess hall eating breakfast. Yoshika looked over at her best friend. "So, Lynne? Are you getting comfortable with piloting the Dynames yet?"

Lynne looked back and nodded, even as she swallowed a bite of her scrambled eggs. "Yes. It's actually a lot easier than I thought, and I'm able to concentrate on sniping as well!"

Michiko grinned. "Oh, so you were having trouble when sniping while flying a Striker Unit, eh? Then I guess it's a good thing that my cousin found you; it would be sad to waste such a talent as yours."

Lynette once again blushed at the praise she was being given for her skill, when Carla walked back to the group with her second plate of pancakes and bacon… but there was quite a lot of bacon on said plate. "Um, isn't that too much bacon there, Carla?" The Britannian asked.

"There's no such thing as to much bacon!" Carla exclaimed as she took one strip and bit half of it off, swallowing it after chewing for a few seconds. "Bacon is the breakfast food of the gods!"

This caused Yoshika, Michiko, and Lynette to sweat drop at Carla's outburst, even as several base personnel also gave her weird looks.

The Liberion seemed to notice the attention as she began blushing in embarrassment, and began picking at her food shyly.

'_Why do I find her sudden change of behavior cute?'_ Michiko thought to herself, before an alert sounded from their PDA's.

The four Gundam Meisters stopped what they were doing and read the message, before a grin broke out on Yoshika's and Michiko's faces. "Looks like Ptolemy has just arrived, and it's carrying the extra equipment for the Gundams as well."

Carla's attitude did a complete 180 as she began eating in a hurry. Interestingly enough, the four Meisters finished their breakfast at around the same time.

"Come on, let's go! I want to check out the new equipment for the Kyrios!" Carla exclaimed as she took off running towards the ship hangar, using her PDA to show her a map of the base.

The other three Gundam Meisters looked at each other for a moment before they took off running after the Liberion.

* * *

_April 20__th__, 1945_

_Romagna, 504__th__ JFW "Ardor Witches" Base_

_General POV, Ardor Witches_

It's been a day since the failed attempt at trying to communicate with the Neuroi… and a day since those two unknown machines saved their lives. Takei was in her office writing a report about what had happened when she heard a knock on her door. "Who is it?" The Flight Lieutenant asked.

"It's me. Do you have a minute?" The voice of her good friend, Squadron Leader Federica, asked back.

"You can enter." Takei answered as she finished her report, setting it aside even as Federica entered the room, closing the door as she did so. She waited until the Roman took a seat in front of her before she spoke. "Is there something I can help you with?"

Federica nodded. "I would like to see the report about yesterday's… incident."

Takei handed her the report she had just finished writing, and she began to read through it.

After thirty minutes of careful reading, Federica put the report down with wide eyes. "Are you sure the Neuroi showed you those images? How this war started, the mass-produced Warlocks, and Sergeant Miyafuji's second attempt at making contact being interrupted?"

The Fusojin nodded. "Every damn word is true. And as you already know, I included the appearance of those… what did you say they were? Gundams?"

The Roman nodded. "That's the word I saw on top of the sword-wielding one's head, and I can only assume that is the name of the machine."

Takei looked perplexed. "It just might be… I happen to be good friends with Wing Commander Jane Thatch from the 508th Joint Fighter Wing, aka the Mighty Witches. According to what she told me last night when she contacted me, two unknown machines similar to the ones that appeared at Venezia saved her carrier group from certain destruction. She also managed to get a glimpse of a word on one of them… just like the sword-wielding one, the word she saw was "Gundam"."

Federica was shocked; _two more_ of those Gundam machines appeared yesterday? "Two more of those Gundam machines appeared?! What did they look like?!"

"According to Miss Thatch herself, one of the machines had extremely bulky armor, was able to create a barrier of green particles that could easily block a strong beam, and also possessed beam weapons which easily surpass anything we've ever seen, even from the Neuroi… and it was also able to deploy eight drones of its own." Takei answered. "The other machine at first looked like the most advanced fighter craft they had ever seen, but it can also transform into a Gundam equipped with beam weapons. It's also the more agile of the two, since it seems to focus on speed as its main advantage. She refers to it as the Winged Gundam, which I find to be quite fitting."

Takei was mentally assessing Federica's reaction so she could report it to Veda later, and she was satisfied with the look of shock she was seeing.

* * *

_April 20__th__, 1945_

_Port of Dover, current location of 508__th__ JFW "Mighty Witches"_

_General POV, Mighty Witches_

It was a calm morning at the port of Dover where the ships that consisted of the 508th JFW were currently moored as their ships were refueling. Inside the Liberion carrier _USS Lexington_, Jane Thatch was busy writing a report about the incident that happened yesterday, making sure to include every detail of the Gundams she was allowed to (such as their appearance and performance based on what she had seen; she omitted all other details like the names of the Gundams for obvious reasons) when she heard a knock on her door. "Who's there?" She asked out loud, making sure her voice could be heard through the metal door.

"It's me, Jane. Can I come in?" The voice of Mie asked.

Jane T. was about to answer before a thought came to her mind. "'It's me, Jane. Can I come in?' who?"

The door opened as Mie came in, and she wasn't impressed at Jane T.'s attempt at a joke. "Really now, Jane?"

The Liberion snickered. "Sorry, just wanted to humor myself a bit. Come on in."

The Fusojin entered the room while closing the door behind her before taking a seat on a chair in front of Jane T.'s desk. "Writing a report about what happened yesterday?"

Jane T. nodded. "I am, and I'm making extra sure to include as much information about those Gundam things as I can as well."

Mie went silent as she recalled the two machines that appeared yesterday. "… I'm still having a hard time believing that such machines could exist…"

"You and me both." Jane T. said back, even though it was an expertly-concealed lie. She then remembered her plan to get back to Celestial Being. "Say, Mie… this might be a bit sudden, but I'd like you to take charge of the girls for me; what happened yesterday reminded me that I'm long overdue for retirement."

The Fusojin looked shocked. "Wait– you're retiring?! But what about the Mighty Witches?! You've worked so hard to form this group!"

Jane T. sighed. "I know… believe me, I know. However, I believe it's about time that I passed on the mantle; and you're the only one I can trust enough to actually do so."

Mie was silent as she began thinking about what she had just heard. It took her three and a half minutes before she spoke again. "Are you certain about this? About me?"

Jane T. nodded. "Positive, but I'm not officially leaving until we reach port in Gallia, so I'll be around for a few more days."

Mie sighed in relief; at least she wasn't leaving right this instant.

"Oh, that reminds me." The Liberion continued. "I contacted a good friend of mine, Takei Junko, yesterday to ask her about the result of Operation Trajanus… I'll go into details later, but she said that right before she could establish contact with it, a Super Hive appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the old Hive that was there. But before she and the 504th were killed, two of those Gundam machines appeared and saved them. However, they were different than the ones we saw yesterday; the ones we saw yesterday had one of the specializing in high offensive and defensive power while the other specialized in speed. The ones Takei saw specialized in close-quarters combat and long-range sniper attacks."

The Fusojin couldn't believe what she was hearing; as if two Gundams weren't enough, now there were _four_ of the unknown machines. "I… Is that true?!"

The Liberion nodded. "Every damn word."

Jane T. was mentally pleased at the shocked look she was receiving, and decided to send a report to Veda about it later.

* * *

_April 20th, 1945_

_Africa, Sahara Base Alpha_

_General POV, Celestial Being_

Yoshika, Lynette, Carla, and Michiko were currently within the _Ptolemaios 3_'s Mobile Suit hangar where several pieces of new equipment were being displayed. The first set of equipment looked like a set of blue and white armor pieces which were currently on a rack, three different GN Swords that were currently folded up, and a blue and white rifle that was also folded in half. The second set of equipment consisted of several pistol-like weapons as well as what looked like a modified beam rifle and a backpack of sorts which were on another rack. The third set of equipment composed of a larger than normal GN Rifle that had two smaller barrels on top and below the main barrel, two missile launchers, and a piece of equipment that is similar to the Tail Unit, but instead had two GN Cannons on it and a booster as well. The fourth and final set of equipment consisted of an extra GN Bazooka, two beam rifles of different models, a GN Sword that had a Gundam face on it, and a solid shield.

"Oh, wow!" Carla exclaimed as she looked at all the equipment.

"Is this really all for us?" Michiko asked, something that Yoshika and Lynette wanted to know as well.

"You bet it is!" A new voice spoke up, causing the heads of the four Meisters to look up, only to see four identical human-sized Mobile Suits slowly descending from above them and gently touching down on the floor in front of them. The machines had mostly orange-colored armor which was gray and white in some areas, a heavy-duty winch on the crotch area, two wing binders on their backs, and a yellow-green monoeye on the helmet which also had a white stripe on the top. Yoshika and Michiko identified the units as Works GINNs, a non-combat variant of the mass-produced GINN 2nd Generation Innovative Striker, or IS for short.

The Works GINNs glowed white for a moment before they disappeared, revealing the four pilots as the IS units entered their Closed Form.

The first girl was a Fusojin who looked to be about 18 years old and was wearing a full body orange mechanic suit along with a white undershirt, cream-colored work gloves, and brown work boots. She also had short brown hair and dark brown eyes, and on her right ear was an earring which had a wrench-shaped pendant; it was her Works GINN's Closed Form. This girl was Satoko Nakajima.

The second girl was also a Fusojin and looked to be about 17 years old and had slightly tan skin. She was wearing a full body orange mechanic suit that was rolled down to her waist where the sleeves were tied in a knot so as to not get in the way, leaving the white undershirt she was wearing in plain view, and she was also wearing brown work boots and cream-colored work gloves. She also had shoulder-length dark violet hair and forest green eyes, as well as having her IS' Closed Form on her right ear. This girl was Hoshino Kanemoto.

The third girl was a Fusojin who looked to be about 18 years old and had natural dark tan skin. She was wearing a full body orange mechanic suit like the first two girls, a white undershirt, cream-colored work gloves, and brown work boots. She also had short red-brown hair and ocean blue eyes, and on her left ear was her Works GINN's Closed Form. This girl was Suzuki Ishihara.

The fourth and final girl was also a Fusojin who looked like she was 16 years old. She was wearing a full body orange mechanic suit, a white undershirt, cream-colored work gloves, and brown work boots like the other three girls. She also had short reddish-brown hair like Suzuki and a pair of black eyes, with her Works GINN's Closed Form hanging on her left ear. This girl was Tsuchiya Kitamura.

"Who are you four?" Carla asked the newcomers.

"My name's Satoko Nakajima." Satoko introduced herself. "And these three are Hoshino Kanemoto, Suzuki Ishihara, and Tsuchiya Kitamura." She introduced the other three girls, pointing to each of them during their introductions.

"Nice to meet you, I'm-" Yoshika began, but was interrupted by Suzuki.

"We know who you four are." Suzuki said. "You're Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti, Lynette Bishop, Carla Luksic, and Michiko Yamakawa Vashti, the four Gundam Meisters of the Ptolemy Team."

The Meisters were surprised. "How do you know who we are?" Michiko asked.

"How can we not?" Hoshino asked back. "The four of us are being reassigned to the Ptolemy Team to help out with maintenance of the Gundams and your new IS units."

That last bit caused Yoshika's and Michiko's eyes to widen in shock. "We're getting new IS units?!" Yoshika asked in shock.

"You bet you are!" Tsuchiya grinned, pointing to six small racks that each held what looked like a miniaturized Gundam that were grey in color. "Six brand-new, prototype 3rd Generation Innovative Strikers that have just arrived from the Morgenroete Research &amp; Development facility on Mars and are ready to begin combat trials!"

The group of eight walked over to the six IS units, where a young man who had green hair, purple eyes, and was wearing the standard Celestial Being uniform was waiting for them. "So you four are the next generation of Gundam Meisters for the Ptolemy Team?" He asked as he looked at Yoshika, Michiko, Lynette, and Carla.

Yoshika's and Michiko's eyes widened in shock at who they were seeing. "Ribbons Almark?!"

The man chuckled and shook his head, finding the situation amusing. "Not quite. While I may look like him, and possess the same genetic type, I am not him."

Satoko took over at this point. "Ah, that's right; you four never met him before. Let me introduce you to Sky Eclipse, one of the head engineers at Morgenroete, and the man in charge of the G Project."

Yoshika and Michiko immediately relaxed upon hearing this; they knew that Sky Eclipse was an Innovade who worked at Morgenroete, but they didn't expect him to share the same genetic code of the infamous Ribbons Almark.

"Sorry about the way we reacted…" Yoshika apologized for both herself and her cousin.

Sky waved it off. "It's alright; I was actually expecting that reaction out of the two of you."

Lynette and Carla, meanwhile, were confused about what they were talking about. "Umm, Yoshika… what are you talking about?"

Yoshika turned to her best friend. "Do you remember what I told you about the group known as the Innovators, Lynne, and how they were being manipulated by Ribbons Almark?"

The Britannian nodded, while Carla was listening as well.

"Well, Ribbons Almark just so happened to be the first Ribbons-type Innovade to have been created… and Sky Eclipse here just so happens to be another Ribbons-type Innovade."

Lynette's and Carla's eyes widen as they realize why Yoshika and Michiko reacted the way they did just moments ago. "Now I get it; because of his appearance, you two accidentally thought he was an enemy, right?" The Liberion asked.

The two Fusojin Gundam Meisters nodded.

"Enough of that; why don't we show you the six prototypes?" Sky asked as he walked back towards the six IS racks, stopping at the one on the far left. He waited until the other eight girls approached before he began his explanation. "The first unit on the far left is the Duel Gundam, the first IS completed under the G Project. Its armaments consist as follows; two head-mounted "Igelstellung" 9mm Multi-barrel Laser Vulcans, two beam sabers, the Assault Shroud which consists of a single "Shiva" 37mm railgun and a single 55mm 5-barrel missile pod which holds 15 micro missiles, a 23mm high-energy beam rifle with a 47mm grenade launcher attachment, and a dual beam gun/claw emitter. It can optionally be equipped with the M7070 18mm Vulcan system shield as an alternate shield, a 50mm "Gáe Bulg" rail bazooka, and a NOL-Y941 heavy laser sword. It can also be equipped with an Aile Striker flight pack for extra maneuverability and two more beam sabers." Sky paused as his eyes glowed for a moment, most likely accessing Veda to retrieve additional information. His eyes stopped glowing after a few seconds, and his gaze shifted to Carla. "Carla Luksic, you have been chosen to be the pilot of the Duel."

Carla looked shocked for a moment before she began grinning madly, staring at the inert form of her newly-assigned IS. "I do believe I'm going to have _fun_ with this bad boy!"

This caused the other three Meisters and the four mechanic Witches to sweat drop, while Sky merely shook his head and walked over to the next unit, apparently having seen that sort of behavior several times before. "Satoko, why don't you do the next one?"

Satoko grinned. "With pleasure!" With that said, she stepped forward, gaining the attention of the others, and began the explanation of the second unit. "This unit here is the Buster Gundam, the second IS completed under the G Project. It is armed with two head-mounted "Igelstellung" 9mm multi-barrel laser Vulcans, two 37mm six-barrel missile pods which each contain 18 missiles, as well as a 45mm gun launcher and a 23mm high-energy rifle which can be combined into either an anti-armor shotgun or a hyper impulse long-range sniper rifle. It can also be optionally equipped with the Aile Striker Kai flight pack to increase its speed and maneuverability, and to also give it access to two laser Gatling cannons and two beam sabers."

"Veda has deemed it fit to assign this unit to Lynette Bishop." Sky continued, which left the Britannian of the group shocked.

"E-Ehh?! _I'm_ its pilot?!" Lynette exclaimed, apparently shocked at the fact that she was being trusted with another of one of Celestial Being's Gundam units.

Yoshika put a reassuring hand on Lynette's shoulder. "Relax, Lynne; if anyone can pilot it to its full potential, it's you."

"You… you really think so?" The Britannian asked hesitantly.

"I _know_ so." Yoshika said back with a confident grin.

Lynette gasped slightly at what her best friend had said, but she gave a small smile a few moments later. "Thanks, Yoshika."

"Anytime, Lynne… anytime."

The others smiled at the scene, before Sky turned to Hoshino. "Would you mind?" He asked, gesturing towards the third unit.

Hoshino smiled. "Sure thing." She then cleared her throat, getting the attention of the others. Once she had their attention, she began her explanation. "The third unit to be completed under the G Project is the Blitz Gundam. It is armed with two "Igelstellung" 9mm multi-barrel head-mounted laser Vulcans, a Piercer Lock "Gleipnir", and the "Trikeros" offensive shield system which consists of a 23mm high-energy beam rifle, a built-in beam saber, and three "Lancer Dart" hypervelocity kinetic shield penetrators. The Blitz has no assigned pilot; instead it will be held in reserve for special ops missions."

At that, the Meisters were confused. "What do you mean by special ops?" Carla asked.

Sky took over from here. "What she means by that is that the Blitz possesses the Mirage Colloid stealth system, which cloaks it from radar, sonar, infrared scanners, and just about any other sensor out there… and that includes the naked eye, as it also turns the unit invisible when it's activated, even while it's moving."

The eyes of the four widened in shock upon hearing this, and Yoshika and Michiko immediately knew the implications as to the unit's potential; it could be used to kidnap or assassinate high-priority targets, perform reconnaissance deep within enemy territory, and many more roles where stealth took top priority.

Suzuki stepped forward and walked towards the fourth unit, turning around once she was next to it. She cleared her throat to get the attention of the four Gundam Meisters and, once she had their attention, she began speaking. "This is the fourth unit to be completed under the G Project, the Aegis Gundam. It's armed with two head-mounted "Igelstellung" 9mm multi-barrel laser Vulcans, four beam sabers mounted on the arms and the feet, a 30mm high-energy beam rifle, a single torso-mounted "Scylla" 75mm multi-phase energy cannon, and the "Kurimuzon" offensive shield which consists of a 35mm Railgun with variable power setting, a double Gatling gun that can alternate between shell-firing and beam-firing modes, and two Panzer-Faust. The Aegis doesn't have an assigned pilot, and is held in reserve in case any of your units get damaged."

Yoshika looked at the Aegis with a critical eye. "So it has two foot-mounted beam sabers, just like the Exia R4, as well as two beam sabers that are built into the arms, freeing up the hands to hold the beam rifle and the offensive shield… interesting. I'll have to give it a test flight sometime."

Suzuki smirked. "Ptolemy won't be leaving for its next mission until a few days since the 1st through 8th Orbital Defense Fleets need additional time to prepare for their part, but feel free to give it a go when you have the time."

Yoshika nodded in thanks, already having prior knowledge of the 1st through 8th Fleet's role in the upcoming mission.

Tsuchiya stepped forward. "Allow me to introduce the next unit… well, the last two units are pretty much the same except for some slight differences, so I guess I'll explain them both." Her gaze turned to the two units in question. "The fifth unit to be completed under the G Project is the Strike Gundam, while the sixth unit is the Strike Rouge Gundam. Both units only have two fixed armaments, consisting of two head-mounted "Igelstellung" 9mm multi-barrel laser Vulcans and two "Armor Schneider" anti-armor combat knives. But what makes these two unit unique from the others is that they can be equipped with various "Striker Packs", which are support units that allow the Strike and the Strike Rouge to change their equipment to adapt to the situation as needed. I'll go into details about the Striker Packs later."

"Yoshika, you have been assigned to be the Strike's pilot, while Michiko will be the pilot of the Strike Rouge." Sky finished.

The two Fusojin Meisters looked at each other for a moment, before they turned back to Sky with grins on their faces. "We accept."

The green-haired Innovade smiled. "Excellent. Now, seeing that the four of you have never piloted an IS before, the next few days will be dedicated to training you on operating an IS. Each of you will have an instructor who also came from Morgenroete." He pulled out a PDA and contacted somebody. "You five can enter now."

The doors connecting the Ptolemy's hangar to the rest of the ship opened, and five girls wearing different colored uniforms walked in.

The first girl was a Fusojin and was wearing a red Celestial Being flight suit with the helmet attached to the flight suit's hardpoint behind her neck. She looked to be about 16 years old, had bright shoulder length blonde hair, blue eyes, and a red sword-shaped pendant hanging on her neck.

The second girl was also a Fusojin and was wearing a bright blue Celestial Being flight suit and was holding her helmet with her right hand. She also appeared to be 16 years old, had blue hair that went to her upper back, amber-colored eyes, a pair of pink-rimmed glasses, and an earring on her left ear which took the shape of a blue zigzagging snake that had frills near the head area and a purple tail.

The third girl, like the first two, was a Fusojin who was wearing a violet Celestial Being flight suit and had her helmet tucked underneath her left arm. She, like the first two girls, appeared to be 16 years old, had short dark red hair, violet eyes, and was wearing a dark purple earring, which took the shape of a jackal's head, on her right ear.

The fourth girl was a Liberion who was wearing a green flight suit and had her helmet attached to the back of the flight suit's neck area. She looked to be about 18 years old, had short brown hair that was tied in a lopsided ponytail, brown eyes, and was wearing a green shield-shaped earring on her left ear.

The fifth and final girl was another Fusojin and was wearing a black and gold flight suit and was holding her helmet with both hands. She looked to be about 19 years old, had black hair that went down to her mid-back, bright crimson eyes that seemed to teem with charisma, and a pendant that was shaped like a golden roaring lion's head hanging from her neck.

"Allow me to introduce my co-workers at Morgenroete." Sky said, before he began to introduce the five starting with the first girl. "These people are Asagi Caldwell, Juri Wu Nien, Mayura Labatt, Yoon Sefan, and Rondo Mina Sahaku. They will be assisting you with getting accustomed to flying your IS units, as well as gathering flight data to help make future improvements to them, and using the data to eventually create a mass-production 3rd Generation unit for the Witches in Celestial Being."

Rondo stepped forward and leveled her gaze at the four Gundam Meisters. "So you four are the Gundam Meisters of the Ptolemy Team… it will be a pleasure to work with you."

"The pleasure is ours." Yoshika said back with a smile.

"So, when do we begin lessons?" Mayura asked with a grin.

* * *

_April 22__nd__, 1945_

_Helvetia, Seize Outskirts at Clocktower Fortress_

_General POV, 1121__st__ Platoon_

In the outskirts of the town known as Seize, a girl who appeared to be around 17 years old stirred in her tent, before sitting up tiredly as she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Looking to her left, she saw her clothes folded as neatly as she was able to do so, and tiredly put them on. As she exited the tent, she was wearing a dark green vest, a light blue undershirt, and, highly unusual for a Witch, dark green shorts the same color as her vest. She also had dark blue hair that went to her lower back and black eyes. In her hands was a bugle. This girl was Rio Kazumiya Arkadia, a Helvetian Witch of the 1121st Platoon, which was the only one of the original Helvetian Witch units that was able to survive.

Helvetia had the unfortunate luck of being surrounded from all sides by the Neuroi, cutting off any and all supply lines which resulted in the country fighting a battle that it was slowly losing; Witches would usually sortie to combat the Neuroi while half-starved and exhausted. As a result, Witch casualties mounted quickly as they and the rest of Helvetia's defending fighters and tanks were gradually killed and destroyed.

Now, all that was left of Helvetia's original defense force were the six Witches that composed of the 1121st Platoon and several tanks, and although relief supplies and Witch squadrons were flooding in from the direction of the recently-liberated Gallia in an effort to save what was left of the country, Rio feared that she and the rest of the 1121st might die before they receive any of the vital supplies due to their position at the opposite end of the country where the supplies were coming from.

Shaking her head sadly as she looked at the ruins of Seize, Rio climbed up on top of a piece of rubble and began to play the tune of _Amazing Grace_ with her bugle, which served as the morning alarm for the other five Witches. She then waited several minutes for them to wake up.

After around 15 minutes, the rest of the 1121st Platoon emerged from their tents in full uniform.

The first girl was a Helvetian who looked to be around 15 years old and was wearing a large dark green jacket that covered her entire upper body, obscuring her underclothes, and a pair of brown shorts were just barely visible. She had shoulder length dark brown hair, a blue hair clip that was holding up her left bang, and black eyes like Rio's. This girl was Kanata Sorami.

The second girl was also a Helvetian who looked like she was 14 years old and was wearing a dark green jacket that was open to reveal her blue undershirt and dark green shorts. She had brown hair that was tied into two pigtails with two red ribbons and dark blue eyes. This girl was Kureha Suminoya.

The third girl was also a Helvetian who looked like she was 15 years old and was wearing an open dark green jacket which showed her sleeveless black shirt, a yellow scarf that was tied around her neck, and dark green shorts. She had short silver hair and unusual purple eyes. This girl was Noëlle Kannagi.

The fourth girl, like the previous girls, was a Helvetian who looked to be around 18 years old. She was wearing a uniform that was exactly like the others, consisting of a dark green jacket and shorts. She also had long blonde hair that went to her lower back and glasses framing her blue eyes. This girl was Filicia Heideman.

The fifth and final girl was a Karlslander who had naturally tan skin and was about 17 years old. She was wearing a uniform that was different from what the other girls were wearing; consisting of a brown coat with equally brown shorts. She had short black hair, a black dot on her forehead, and blue eyes. This girl was Aisha Ardora, the only foreign Witch in the 1121st.

The five girls yawned tiredly as they greeted Rio. "Mornin', Rio…" Kanata said groggily.

"Good morning, Kanata. Did you sleep well?" Rio asked the girl who she saw as her protégé.

"Yeah… somewhat. What's for breakfast?"

Filicia frowned in concern. "We're running dangerously low on supplies, but we should have at least a little bit of food…"

Aisha walked up to them after checking their food supply. "We're very low on food; if we eat sparingly and split the food amongst us separately, it might last four, six days tops." She then held out three cans of beans. "I know it isn't much, but…"

"But we need to be conservative if we don't want to starve to death." Noëlle finished, earning a nod from Aisha.

"We need to make sure that these supplies last until we can get some more." Kureha said.

Kanata nodded sadly, even as she began cooking the beans in a pot over the fire.

Rio, sensing Kanata's sadness, put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's going to be alright; we're going to survive this… no, we _will_ survive this. I'm sure of it."

It wasn't much, but Kanata took some comfort in hearing those words from her mentor as she finished coking the beans and gave everyone an equal amount.

The six girls began eating their light breakfast in earnest, and finished it in less than 5 minutes due to how little they had available to eat. As she was cleaning up the dishes, Kanata looked up to the sky, her sadness easily seen by Rio.

"Kanata, what's wrong?" Rio asked.

The brunette jumped slightly, before she looked at her mentor. "I know you said we were going to survive... but can we truly do so in our current situation?"

"What-"

"But our comrades who flew in the skies… and the friends we had with us down here… they're all dead! We're the only ones out of Helvetia's entire Air and Army Corps to still be alive!" Kanata shouted.

"Kanata-"

"Our situation is just like theirs was! Little food, little water, and only a handful of bullets and shells for ammunition! Face it, Rio; we're going to die! We're going to-"

_***SLAP***_

Kanata's head was turned, her left cheek red from the force of the slap that Rio gave her. _'So, Kanata finally snapped from the pressure…'_ Rio thought sadly to herself.

"R…Rio?" The stunned brunette asked, stunned at what just happened.

The blue-haired girl was trembling. "You think I don't know that…? You think I don't know that?!" Rio firmly grabbed onto Kanata's shoulders and forced her to look directly into her eyes. "Listen to me, Kanata: We _all_ know that our situation is just like our deceased comrades! But we are _NOT_ going to die like they did, I'll make damn sure of that! And if anyone in this platoon is going to die-"

"Then I'm going to be the one who dies first!" A voice interrupted them, breaking Rio out of her rant. The two Witches looked to see who had spoken, only to find themselves face-to-face with Filicia.

"Filicia…?" Rio asked, unsure of what she meant.

"Nobody in this unit is going to die while I'm here! And if anybody has to die… then I'll be the one to die first!" The blonde Witch declared.

"Filicia, you can't be serious!" Kureha exclaimed.

"I _am_ serious. If anyone's going to die, then I'm more than willing to sacrifice myself to make sure you girls live!"

"Commander… if you die, then how will we-" Aisha started, but was interrupted by Filicia.

"I said I was _willing_ to die to protect you all." Filicia said with a small smile, placing a comforting hand on Kanata's shoulder as she gazed at the others. "I didn't say I was _ready_ to die just yet."

* * *

_April 23__rd__, 1945_

_Gallia, Port of Pas-de-Calais_

_General POV, 508__th__ Joint Fighter Wing "Mighty Witches"_

It was mid-afternoon when the 508th JFW made port at the rebuilt city of Pas-de-Calais, the cargo ships they were escorting now beginning to unload the supplies they were holding for the relief efforts.

Inside her office, Jane Thatch was finishing packing the last of her belongings when she took another look around the now-barren room. Jane T. smiled thinly as she recalled the memories she had made for herself within the _USS Lexington_. She sighed to herself, knowing full-well that this day would eventually come.

But that didn't make the pain of having to say farewell to the rest of the 508th any better, though.

As she grabbed the last item that needed to be packed, the Liberion observer agent noticed that it was a photo of herself and the rest of the Mighty Witches, the picture having been taken during her birthday party.

A genuine smile graced her face as she carefully packed the photo inside her travel bag. Zipping the bag shut, she hefted the strap on her right shoulder and carried it out of the room.

But what she didn't expect was to find the other Witches of the 508th right next to the door, and they were all looking depressed.

"Jane… do you really have to go?" Cecilia asked sadly.

"Yeah… can't you stay with us?" Takami asked as well, something that the rest of the girls wanted to ask as well.

Jane T. sighed again. "Look you girls, we've already been over this."

"But Commander-" Mie started, but was cut off as Jane T. raised her hand to silence her.

"I've already signed the resignation forms, so I'm not in the military anymore. Please, just call me Jane." The retired Liberion Witch said, something that caused the others to gasp in surprise.

"I… I see. So there's no stopping you, then…" Delia said sadly.

Jane T. smiled softly. "No, I've already made up my mind on this… but I want you girls to know that my time here with all of you was wonderful, and that you're all the best friends that I've ever had."

That did it; Mie was the first to lose her composure and threw herself at Jane T., hugging her tightly while bawling her eyes out. The rest of the 508th joined in on the group hug shortly after.

After a few minutes, Jane T. freed herself from the hug. "Well, girls; I have to go. And Mie…" Here, the retired Liberion's gaze turned to the newly appointed commander of the 508th JFW. "… Take care of these girls for me."

All Mie did was nod while trying to compose herself.

Jane T. smiled. "Goodbye, girls… I'll never forget you." With that said, she hefted her duffel bag and walked away, heading down the _Lexington_'s gangplank a few minutes later.

The rest of the girls looked at each other. "Will we ever see her again?" Dorothy asked.

Sadae nodded. "We'll see her again someday… I'm sure of it."

* * *

Several hours later, Jane T. was looking at the combined fleet that made up the 508th JFW from the edge of Pas-de-Calais. She sighed to herself, then broke out into a huge grin as she sprinted off into a nearby forest. Once she was sure that she was away from any prying eyes, she gently touched the earring on her right ear. "CGUE, standby ready."

"**Standby."** A monotone voice rang out as the earring began glowing, before emitting a bright flash of light.

As the light died down, an armored machine emerged. The machine's armor was mostly white in color, had two large wing binders on its back, a large fin equipped with multiple sensors located on top of the helmet piece, four smaller auxiliary sensor fins on the shoulders with two per, and a bright pink monoeye that flashed to life. This particular IS was a CGUE, a 2.5 Generation High Performance General-Purpose IS.

Inside the CGUE's armor, Jane T. was going through a systems check to make sure everything was working properly, remembering the training she went through to pilot such a unit. Seeing that all systems were functioning normally, she grinned. "DINN Aerial Maneuver Fighter Wing System, engage." After Jane T. said those words, a set of wings appeared next to the boosters. Activating them, the wings unfolded into three sets and were spread wide.

She then received a set of instructions from Veda, telling her that there was a Mobile Suit waiting for her approximately 293 miles and 1,252 yards southeast of her current location, give or take a few dozen feet.

'_No matter how many times I see it, it still amazes me how advanced Celestial Being's technology is.'_ She thought to herself as she gazed at the map that showed the suggested route she take to avoid being spotted. Nodding to herself, she eased her CGUE off the ground after grabbing her duffel bad and began to fly low over the treetops to avoid being spotted by radar, the DINN flight unit allowing her unrestricted flight time in the air.

* * *

One hour and 45 minutes later, Jane Thatch had finally reached the designated clearing, and she was getting tired; having to keep up a constant watch on her surroundings to make sure nobody saw her, keeping an eye on her radar to make sure she didn't stumble upon any Witches or vice-versa, and making sure she didn't stray from the course given to her all simultaneously was more exhausting than she had thought.

Before she could get her bearings, she heard a young woman's voice on a CB frequency… and it sounded familiar. _"Unknown pilot of the CGUE, please state your name and ID Number."_

Although caught by surprise, Jane was able to remember her number. "ID Number 304687. Jane Thatch, returning to active duty."

There was silence on the frequency for a few seconds. _"Confirmed identification as Jane Thatch. I will be your escort until we reach the Tyrrhenian Sea."_ After that was said, the Liberion noticed something to her left. Moving the CGUE's monoeye camera to face that direction, she was met with the sight of a Mobile Suit disengaging its optical cloak.

The Mobile Suit in question had mostly curved armor that was dark blue in color. On its head was a large central long range targeting camera surrounded by four smaller cameras, all of which had violet lenses. On its shoulders were two large GN Cannons, a large GN laser sword on its left hip, a beam saber on the right hip, and two GN Vulcans in the head. There was also a single red balsam flower painted on the armor piece directly below the head. This unit was a GNX-607T/BWT GN-XII Twin Cannon, a customized version of the GN-XII Cannon.

Jane T. took a look at the weapons arrangement and the flower symbol, and found herself grinning. _'There's only one person I know who uses that type of weapon arrangement and uses that flower as their symbol.'_ "Shiho, I haven't seen you since our time on the _Exodus_!"

At that, the GN-XII TC's waist-mounted cockpit's hatch opened, revealing a Baltlander girl who looked to be around 18 years old and was wearing a red Celestial Being flight suit. The pilot pulled off her helmet, revealing her purple eyes and brown hair that went down to her mid back. On her right ear was an earring taking the appearance of a blue balsam flower. This girl was Shiho Hahnenfuss, a Witch who used to be assigned to the Neue Karlsland JG 52 back when Ostmark first fell to the Neuroi, and currently a Mobile Suit/IS pilot for Celestial Being after being recruited several years ago.

Shiho shot a grin at Jane T. "It's certainly been a while, Jane. So, how've you been doing lately?"

"Doing fine, now that you're here." Jane T. grinned back, approaching the cockpit.

"Anyways, get in the cockpit and disengage the CGUE; I'll be carrying you for the next 620 miles to where your Overflag is waiting." Shiho said.

The Liberion complied with the order, and the Baltlander Witch closed the hatch after Jane T. situated herself at the back of the panoramic cockpit. Once Shiho saw that Jane T. was comfortable enough, she closed the hatch and started the GN-XII TC's GN Tau Drive II. The four eyes and the main targeting camera all flashed to life as the Mobile Suit lifted off the ground and flew off on heading 1-7-6, yellow particles spewing from the thrusters.

* * *

_April 25__th__, 1945_

_Africa, Sahara Base Alpha_

_General POV, Celestial Being_

The sound of two beam sabers clashing against each other echoed in the in the morning desert air as two aerial combatants went against each other. One of them, an armored figure with mostly pink and red armor, pulled back from the stalemate and opened fire with its beam rifle. The other combatant, an armored figure that was red, white, and blue in color, easily evaded the green beams and returned fire with its own beam rifle, causing the pink and red armored figure to block the shots with its shield before using the shield-mounted beam Gatling gun to try to at least land a hit on the other combatant. Said combatant, however, easily managed to dodge the beams while boosting towards its attacker, putting the beam rifle on its right hip and drawing a beam saber from its flight pack, igniting the blade of frozen flame as it did so. The pink figure ceased fire and drew its own beam saber in time to block the attack.

But before either of the two figures can resume the fight, a voice broke out over their communication systems. _"All right, you two; that's enough for this morning. Head back to the Ptolemy; you two have a mission today."_

This caused the armored figures to look at each other for a moment before nodding in sync as they headed back towards a large white ship that looked like it had legs.

"That was quite the spar, cousin." The pink armored figure said as the faceplate split down the middle and retracted into the sides of the helmet, revealing the face of Michiko Yamakawa Vashti.

The other armored figure nodded as the faceplate of her helmet also retracted, revealing the face of Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti. She grinned at her cousin's words. "That it was, Micchi; now I'm starting to understand why some of the MS instructors were calling you the "Lioness of Celestial Being"!"

This caused Michiko to blink. "Really? They called me that?"

Now it was Yoshika's turn to blink. "You mean you didn't know?"

"I was never told about it."

At this point in time, the two flew into the open starboard catapult deck and into the hangar. Landing next to the Exia R4, the two cousins/sisters disengaged there IS', which took the forms of two pendants, a white one for Yoshika and a pink one for Michiko. The two then ran up to the briefing room, where Sumeragi, Lynette, and Carla were already waiting for them.

"About time you two showed up!" Carla said, her Duel Gundam IS hanging from her left ear in the form of a white and blue earring.

"Yoshika, Michiko, you two aren't hurt, are you?" Lynette asked, worried about the condition of her two friends. Her IS, the Buster Gundam, took the form of a green and white earring hanging on her right ear.

Yoshika and Michiko smiled at Lynette's worrying, but their attention then turned towards Sumeragi. "Miss Sumeragi, shall we get started?" Michiko asked.

"Yes; we're running on a tight schedule this time." Sumeragi said, causing the attention of Carla and Lynette to shift to her.

"What do you mean by that?" The Liberion asked.

"Take a look at this." As the captain said that, a holographic map lit up on a screen beneath the glass floor, causing the Meisters to look down at it. It was a map of the European regions, with several countries listed as either "Free" or "Occupied", with the "Occupied" countries having their territories shaded in red. Yoshika and Michiko assumed that the "Occupied" countries were held by the Neuroi. The map then zoomed in on one of the countries, Helvetia. "As you four are aware, the state that Helvetia is in is critical, and although relief supplies are pouring in from the direction of the recently-liberated Gallia, it will most likely take at least several months before any of those supplies reach the far eastern border, during which many more lives could have been lost due to lack of food or ammunition for the remaining Witches to defend them. That's where Celestial Being comes in."

Here, an image of a fleet of eight dozen _Volga_-class battlecruisers, forty _Nile_-class space battleships, and twenty-four _Ural_-class carriers was displayed, with each of the ships having large grey containers mounted underneath them. These containers were most easily seen on the bottom of the forty _Nile_-class battleships, as they were mounted on the bottom docking clamps where a GNMA-Y0002V Gadelaza could optionally be carried. Also visible were dozens upon dozens of large pods that were shaped like cylindrical trapezoids drifting around the fleet, being maneuvered into groups by no less than 250 GN-X III's and IV's.

"The 1st through 8th Orbital Defense Fleets will be conducting a mass supply drop to assist the relief efforts in Helvetia, but there's a considerably high risk that the supply capsules will be shot down by the Neuroi before they land. You four have been tasked with making sure those supplies reach the ground safely, as well as taking out any Neuroi that make an attempt to launch an attack on either the supply capsules or any of the local ground forces that need help." The captain explained the situation, before moving on to the next topic. "The four of you are to proceed along Route S17 using Trans-Am to perform a sub-orbital leap over the south-eastern-most Venetian Hive to drop into Helvetia. Once the mission has been completed, you are to egress along Route W10 and rendezvous back at Ptolemy at Point Y45 at the Balearic Sea." She then turned towards Carla and Michiko. "Michiko, due to the Virtue's mass, it won't be able to arrive at the battlefield until several minutes after the others. To alleviate this, you will need to latch onto the Kyrios to help keep you in formation during the leap. And Carla, before you complain…" Here the captain's now-glowing eyes focused solely on the Liberion. "The Kyrios, in conjunction to its leg-mounted boosters, has more than enough thrust to tow Virtue during the maneuver, so don't say that the Kyrios can't handle it."

Carla wanted to protest, but she relented under the captain's gaze. "Fine…" _'Damn those Quantum Brainwaves of yours.'_

"I heard that, you know." Sumeragi said with a smirk of amusement.

"Dammit, woman; quit reading my mind!"

Lynette had frozen up at the words "Trans-Am", but before she could panic Yoshika put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, Lynne. You _yourself_ aren't the using Trans-Am; it's the Dynames that'll be doing all the work."

The Britannian looked at her best friend, visibly calmer than before. "…Alright. But please…"

"I know, Lynne… I know."

"Alright, now I got to know; just what's got her so worked up?" Carla asked, curious about Lynette's reaction.

"We'll have time for that later. The four of you need to standby for launch; the mission begins in fifteen minutes." Sumeragi said.

"Right!" The four said before exiting the room, heading down towards the ready room to change into their flight suits.

* * *

12 minutes later, the four Meisters were in their respective Gundams when Carla contacted Yoshika. "Hey, Miyafuji. You mind telling me what that was all about earlier?"

Yoshika hesitated for a moment, but before she could begin speaking Mileina interrupted them. "We have received the signal to begin the mission. Exia and Dynames, move to catapult decks 1 and 2. Kyrios and Virtue, standby for launch clearance."

As she said this, the catapult decks on the _Ptolemaios 3_'s "legs" opened up, giving Yoshika and Lynette a clear view of the desert sky as they moved their Gundams onto the catapult.

"Exia and Dynames stabilized in linear fields. Increasing catapult voltage from 230 to 520. Transferring launch timing to Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti and Lynette Bishop."

"I have control." Yoshika and Lynette said simultaneously.

"Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti in Gundam Exia, heading out!" The youngest Vashti then triggered the catapult launch, shooting her out of the ship as green particles emanated from Exia's GN Drive.

"L-Lynette Bishop in Gundam Dynames… I'm taking off!" After a moment's hesitation, she engaged the catapult to launch her out of the ship, taking flight as her Gundam's GN Drive kicked in.

Carla and Michiko then moved their Gundams onto the catapults as Mileina gave them launch clearance.

"Michiko Yamakawa Vashti in Gundam Virtue, annihilating the targets!"

"Carla Luksic in Gundam Kyrios, commencing intercept maneuvers!"

With that said, Carla and Michiko launched their Gundams, with the Kyrios in its Fighter Mode.

The four Gundams began flying in formation as they began to gain altitude. "Alright, begin countdown to Trans-Am." Yoshika said after waiting twenty minutes for the flight to gain sufficient altitude and initial speed, beginning the countdown. "T-minus 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Engaging Trans-Am." Doing so, she engaged the Trans-Am System, causing the Exia R4 to glow a bright red color and suddenly accelerate, leaving afterimages in its wake.

"Trans-Am!" Carla exclaimed, causing the Kyrios to glow red as well. Waiting a few seconds for the Virtue to get a firm grip on it, the Liberion accelerated, leaving behind afterimages as she towed Michiko's Gundam.

Lynette hesitated for a moment. "…Trans-Am!" The Britannian yelled, causing the Dynames to glow red and take off after the other three as they went skyward.

After three minutes, the Trans-Am of the Exia, Dynames, and Kyrios timed out, prompting Michiko to have Virtue let go of the winged machine and let momentum carry the four the rest of the way to their objective. Yoshika then called their next move. "Lynne, Carla, seal off your GN Drives to help accelerate the recharge process. By the time we get within range, the recharge should be-"

Yoshika never managed to finish her orders due to Sumeragi suddenly contacting them. _"Belay that, Yoshika! Our observation satellites picked up a major Neuroi advance from the western Ostmark Hive pushing west towards Helvetia!"_

This caused the eyes of the four Gundam Meisters to widen in shock as Yoshika quickly checked where the sub-orbital leap would cause them to land. She grinded her teeth in frustration as the results came in; they would land around 100 miles to the west of the Neuroi offensive.

What made this even worse was the fact that Exia, Dynames, and Kyrios had just concluded their Trans-Am, so they were nearly out of particles.

"Dammit, we don't have enough particles to correct our course!" Yoshika yelled out in frustration.

"_You don't, but Virtue does. Michiko, I need you to tow Exia, Dynames, and Kyrios as you correct your descent path. Think you can do that?"_ The captain asked.

* * *

"_I believe I can manage."_ Michiko replied. _"Yoshika, Lynette, Carla, latch onto the Virtue; I'll correct our course!"_

"_Roger that!"_ Came the responses of the other three Meisters before Michiko cut the connection.

Sumeragi slumped in her seat. "I hope things go well for them…"

Mileina smiled. "Of course they're going to be alright; my two little sisters will make sure of it!"

Lasse chuckled. "If I know those two as well as you do, Mileina, then those two won't allow either themselves or their comrades to kick the bucket that easily."

"We just need to have faith in them." Feldt added her two cents.

This caused their captain to smile. "Yeah, you're right; we just need to believe in them." She then turned towards Lasse. "How quickly can you get us to the Balearic Sea?"

"I can get us there in under twenty minutes if we perform a sub-orbital leap, but we'll have to be wary of any of the Allied Forces if we want to remain undetected." The Ptolemy's pilot answered.

Sumeragi nodded. "Then please do so; I would like to be there before the Meisters complete their mission."

"You got it." Lasse said back as he began to lift the ship off the ground, yellow particles spewing from the thrusters.

* * *

_April 25__th__, 1945_

_Helvetia, Seize Outskirts at Clocktower Fortress_

_General POV, 1121__st__ Platoon_

The Witches of the 1121st Platoon were running towards their Land Striker Units, having been alerted of the incoming Neuroi advance from lookouts on the fortress' towers.

Kanata was running towards where the Tank Strikers were being kept as the alarm blared out. Entering the makeshift bunker where the Strikers were kept, she was greeted with the sight of the other Witches of the 1121st already hoping into their Strikers.

"Come on, Kanata! We can't waste any more time!" Rio shouted as she hopped into her Renault R-40 Land Striker, grabbing her 37mm L/35 SA38 cannon before running out of the bunker, flanked by Kureha, dual wielding two modified 37mm Puteaux L/21 SA-18s, and Noëlle, who was wielding an MG-34 in her left hand and a Vis pistol in a holster on her right hip, both in their Renault R-35 Strikers.

The next two Witches to get in their Strikers were Aisha, who was wielding a 7.5 cm StuK 40 L/48 cannon and was in a StuG III Ausf F Striker, while Filicia was wielding a 75mm KwK 40 L/43 cannon and was in a Panzer IV Ausf F2 Striker, the only example of which that was able to be sent to Helvetia before the Neuroi occupied Venezia, completely sealing off the country from the rest of the world in 1941.

As Aisha rushed out of the bunker, Filicia stopped for a moment to look at Kanata as she hopped into her Panzer III Ausf F Striker and grabbed her 5 cm KwK 38 L/42. "Kanata, I want you to remember; I meant every word I said several days ago. No one is going to die today… and if someone has to die, then it's going to be me."

Kanata looked surprised for a moment before she let out a small smile. "…Thanks, Filicia. I needed that."

The blonde commander smiled back. "Now come on; we need to go help the others."

Kanata nodded, and the two rushed out of the bunker to go help their comrades.

Outside the bunker, Kanata and Filicia were met with the sight of several Panzer IV's, Leichter Panzer 35's, and Panzer 39's that belonged to the non-Witch division of the 1121st Platoon were duking it out with several Neuroi Walkers, or "Turtles" as they were known as. Two of the Panzer IV's fired their cannons at one of them, destroying it, but the return fire from the rest of the Turtles would have destroyed four of the tanks if it hadn't been for Filicia and Kanata getting in the way, using their shields to block the beams.

"You boys alright?!" The blonde Witch asked as she opened fire with her 75mm cannon.

"_We're alright, Commander! Looks like we owe you another one for saving our skins again!"_ The commander of the lead Panzer IV answered.

"Just help us out here and we'll call it even!"

"_You got it! You heard the lady, boys! Let's show these Neuroi a little Helvetian hospitality! Feuer Frei!"_

At once, all 17 tanks opened fire with their main guns, ripping apart and killing 8 Turtles and damaging several more.

Kanata took the opportunity to aim her 5 cm cannon at the exposed core of one of the Neuroi and pulled the trigger, eliminating it in an explosion of white fragments.

This caused the attention of the Turtles to shift towards her, but before they could fire two of them were caught off-guard as two of them were shot in the back, one being heavily damaged while the other was destroyed. The shooter, who happened to be Kureha, leapt out from her hiding position in a ruined building and landed on the ground, her twin 37mm cannons smoking slightly.

"Did you forget about me, suckers?!" Kureha yelled loudly before taking off, zigzagging to evade the beams that were fired at her as she closed the distance. She then dived and rolled underneath one of the Turtles and pointed one of her cannons straight up. "Eat this!" She yelled, pulling the trigger and sending an armor-piercing shell straight through the armor and punching a hole in the core, killing the Neuroi instantly.

Getting up, Kureha quickly boosted herself out of the formation of Turtles before she could get vaporized by the beams that converged at her previous position. Joining formation with Filicia and Kanata, she grinned. "Did you miss me?"

"Kureha, you're okay!" Kanata exclaimed, glad that her friend and comrade was alright.

"Where are Noëlle, Rio, and Aisha?" Filicia asked.

"They should be finishing up business on their end." She answered, before noticing machine gun fire being directed at the rearmost Turtle, the magic-enhanced bullets quickly chewing their way through the armor and destroying the core, killing it in an instant. "In fact, I'd say that Noëlle's already here."

And she was; Noëlle was boosting her way into the formation of Turtles, using the cannon fire from the tanks as a distraction to blitz her way into the formation and fire her MG 34 at a Turtle, the bullets making quick work of the armor and exposing the core, which she shot at with her Vis pistol in her right hand, destroying it in a single shot. She then dashed to the side, evading a set of beams that vaporized the ground where she was previously standing.

No sooner than did she evade the beams the line of tanks opened fire on the 17 Turtles, this time only managing to destroy 5 of their number while damaging 6 more. Kureha, seeing an opportunity, dashed forward and opened fire with her two cannons, destroying the front right leg of one of the damaged Neuroi and hitting another in the core, killing it.

Filicia and Kanata focused their fire on the heavily damaged Neuroi, managing to destroy it with a single shot from each of them.

The Neuroi returned fire, prompting Noëlle and Kureha to dodge while Filicia and Kanata deployed their shields to protect the tanks behind them. However, as the beams died down, Kanata faltered.

"Kanata!" The blonde commander shouted, running over to her.

"Wait, Filic-" Kanata never finished as a beam made its way towards her, causing her eyes to widen in horror… But before the beam could strike home, it was blocked by a shield from another Witch.

"Rio?!" Filicia exclaimed, relieved that she arrived in time to save Kanata.

Rio, along with Aisha, opened fire with their cannons, managing to destroy two of the remaining 10 Turtles, bringing their number down to 8. "I will not let my protégé die!" The blue haired girl shouted as she boosted forward, jamming the tip of her cannon into another Turtle and pulling the trigger.

The resulting hole was big enough to expose the core, but not quite destroy it. This was quickly rectified by Aisha who carefully aimed with her 7.5 cm cannon and fired, destroying it.

By then the tanks have reloaded their main guns again and opened fire, managing to destroy six of the remaining Turtles and leaving the last one heavily damaged. Kureha seized the opportunity and aimed both her cannons at the last Neuroi, pulling the triggers two seconds later.

The Turtle screeched the death cry of a Neuroi as it exploded into white fragments.

After waiting for a few tense moments, Rio and the others breathed a sigh of relief, however, that was short-lived as Kanata let out a pained whimper and slumped over.

"KANATA!" Rio yelled as she ran over to check on her protégé, only to find a horrible 3rd degree burn on her left arm where the fabric of her jacket's left sleeve was burned away.

"My God! How did this happen?!" Filicia exclaimed as she and the other Witches of the 1121st Platoon flocked around their injured friend.

Kanata only let out another pained whimper in response as Rio took a closer look at the burn.

"I don't get it; how did Kanata get hurt? She _did_ put up a shield, right Commander?!" Kureha asked.

Filicia nodded. "That's right, she did put up a shield. But a shield doesn't just fail… like…that…" Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at Kanata. "Kanata, can you please put up a shield real quick?"

The burned girl, despite her pain, managed to nod, and deployed her shield.

Filicia and Rio looked at it with critical eyes, and they immediately noticed that it was significantly weaker than it was a week ago.

"It's… it's significantly weaker than it was a week ago!" Rio noted in shock.

"How…?" Noëlle's short question was on everyone else's minds.

Kanata looked up weakly. "I… couldn't let Filicia… or anyone else die…" A few moments after she said this her stomach let out a low rumble.

_That_ shocked the other girls, as Kureha was the first to figure out what she meant. "You… you've been giving us your food portions?!" Kureha asked.

"But… what about you…?" Aisha asked hesitantly as she also caught on.

Kanata managed a small smile despite the pain the burn was giving her. "I'm… unimportant. Everyone else… is…"

Filicia would have slapped her if it wasn't for the sudden screech of a Neuroi echoing throughout the area.

"There's more of them?! I thought we took care of them all!" Kureha yelled, grabbing her two cannons and climbing up to the top of a ruined structure to take a look around. Spotting something to the east, she pulled out a pair of binoculars to get a closer look… and paled at what she saw. "C…Commander…"

The amount of fear that was in Kureha's voice did little to relieve the others. "Well, what is it?" The blonde commander asked hesitantly.

"…Hundred…"

"What?"

"There has to be a hundred of them…"

That caused the girls to pale. "M-More than a hundred?!" Noëlle asked in shock.

"That's not all, either…"

"What do you mean, 'that's not all'?!" Rio shouted.

"There are several dozen Flying Goblets… and ten Super-Heavies as well!" Kureha screamed in panic at what she saw.

An eerie silence befell the girls. "It's… it's an all-out invasion force!" Aisha exclaimed.

"Is today… the day we finally die?" Filicia asked to herself fearfully, but was heard by the others as Kureha jumped down from her observation point.

Before anyone could answer, a large red beam crashed down near their position, the pressure wave catching them off-guard as they were sent flying back.

Kanata, however, had the unfortunate luck of being blown away from the others, and landed on her burnt arm hard enough to fracture and break the bone. Her agonized scream echoed throughout the area, causing Filicia and Rio to pull themselves out of the rubble of the building they were blown into and dash over to where their injured friend was.

"Kanata! Are you alright?!" Rio shouted in panic at seeing her friend and protégé hurt.

"It hurts…" The injured girl barely managed to get out.

Filicia took a look at Kanata's now-broken arm and gasped when she saw that it was now bleeding profusely.

"Dammit; we need to get her treated ASAP!" The blue haired girl exclaimed.

Unfortunately for the two of them, three Flying Goblets decided to close in on the two Witches and their fallen comrade, thinking that they would be easy kills.

Unfortunately for the three Flying Goblets, though, they were destroyed by three pink beams raining down from the sky, each beam destroying their cores in a single shot.

This caused the eyes of the Witches of the 1121st to widen in shock, before they noticed several red beams making their way towards the tanks. But before they could do anything to stop it, a sphere of green light dropped down from the atmosphere and effortlessly blocked the volley of red death rays.

"Wh…What is _that_?!" Kureha asked in awe.

"I don't know… but it saved-" But before Aisha could finish, their transponders crackled to life as a song played out on an open frequency.

**Mugen ni hibiku koe wa yasashii kioku no shirabe (A voice that resounds throughout the dream sings a melody of gentle memories)**

**Itsuka kawashita hazu no yakusoku no hikari (The light of the promise I know we once shared)**

The sphere then dissipated… to reveal a white bulky machine that looked far more advanced than anything they've ever seen before. A second after dropping the spherical barrier, the machine fired its large beam weapon at the column of Turtles that were advancing, vaporizing a dozen of them before striking home on its true target; one of the ten super-heavies, shattering its core and killing it in an instant.

Needless to say, everyone composing of the 1121st, both Witches and tank crews, were stunned speechless at what they had just seen.

* * *

_General POV, Celestial Being_

As the four Gundams descended onto the battlefield, the Meisters looked at the state of the nearby town. "How horrible…" Lynette said to herself.

"I know… and the Neuroi are responsible for it." Carla replied.

"War truly is hell, isn't it…?" Yoshika asked sadly.

Michiko, however, was the first to notice the group of ground Witches below them, as well as seeing that one of them apparently had a broken arm. "Hold up, girls; we got Witches below us, and one of them is injured."

This caused the other three Meisters to look down as well, taking note of the two Witches who were next to their injured comrade… that is, before their Haros alerted them of incoming unknowns from their right.

"ENEMY APPROACHING! ENEMY APPROACHING!" Their Haros called out, bringing up an image of the Neuroi ground invasion force for the four pilots to see.

Needless to say, they were shocked. "G-Ground-based Neuroi…?" Lynette asked, having never seen a ground-based Neuroi before.

"Look at them all… huh?" Carla began to ask, before one of the massive super-heavy Neuroi opened fire with a barrage of beams, bombarding the general area where the ground Witches were at. And that was when a trio of flying Neuroi, which their IFF systems identified as Flying Goblets, moved in for the kill against the Witch who looked to be in serious pain.

"Lynne, take out that trio of Flying Goblets; their cores are located in the center of their bodies!" Yoshika yelled, letting the sniper know where to shoot after taking a look at the Flying Goblets with the Exia's IR sensors, which quickly spotted the cores.

"R-Right!" Said sniper replied as she engaged the Dynames' sniper camera, grabbing onto the electronic targeting scope that lowered itself next to her and peered through it. With careful aim, she pulled the trigger three times, sending a single beam through each of their cores and killing them.

Michiko noticed that the beam ports of several more Flying Goblets were beginning to glow. Taking a quick look around, she saw that the nearest possible targets was a line of 17 tanks of various models. Her eyes widened. "Oh, no you don't! GN Field!"

The field emitters of the Virtue popped open and a green GN Field formed around the Gundam, which was piloted directly above and in front of the tanks just in time to block the beams from destroying the tanks.

'_This country has been suffering for 4 years now… many men, women, and children have died during that time. The people are in a state of despair… so I will give them hope; a song of hope.'_ Michiko thought to herself before activating the communication system on an open frequency. She smiled, and decided to sing in the language of her birth country.

**Mugen ni hibiku koe wa yasashii kioku no shirabe (A voice that resounds throughout the dream sings a melody of gentle memories)**

**Itsuka kawashita hazu no yakusoku no hikari (The light of the promise I know we once shared)**

After she was done, she switched frequencies back to Celestial Being's private encoded channel and targeted the nearest super-heavy. Dropping the GN Field, she opened fire, sending an enormous particle beam straight through a dozen unlucky Turtles and plowing into the intended target, hitting the core and destroying it in one shot.

Yoshika glanced at the Virtue. _'Micchi… why did you do that? I'll ask her later…'_ She thought to herself as she dived onto the nearest Turtle, unfolding the GN Sword Kai II and bisecting it clean through the middle. Thinking quickly about the combat situation, she made up her mind and contacted the others. "Michiko, keep targeting the super-heavies! Carla, you take on the Flying Goblets! Lynne, you and I will deal with the Turtles!"

"Roger!" The others replied, as each went to do their tasks assigned to them.

* * *

_General POV, 1121__st__ Platoon_

Nobody in the 1121st Platoon could comprehend what they were seeing; first, the lives of the tank crews were saved by the fat machine's green barrier blocking the beams meant for them, and now three more machines, two of them humanoid and the third being a strange propeller-less fighter carrying a black unit on its tail, dived in and began to attack the Neuroi.

The blue machine, which was wielding a large sword on its right arm and had a shield on its left, charged towards the first Turtle in a burst of those strange green particles and bisected it in a single swing. The green one, which was holding a huge sniper rifle, fired on several more Turtles from a distance, revealing that it was in fact a beam sniper rifle. The strange fighter, meanwhile, was pulling maneuvers that should have ripped it apart as it avoided the beams that the Flying Goblets were firing at it, while in return it fired precise beam shots into its attackers using its nose-mounted beam gun, the two beam guns on its right side, and the two beam guns underneath its fuselage, destroying several of them and damaging even more. The big black and white machine, meanwhile, kept its position above the tank formation and defending both them and the Witches who retreated behind it using its green barrier.

"W…What in the world _are_ those things…?" Rio asked hesitantly.

"I don't know… nor do I care right now; Kanata's hurt!" Filicia as he first to snap her out of her shock, prompting Aisha to rush over and begin using her healing magic to help heal Kanata's wounds as best as she could.

Unfortunately, she wasn't advanced enough to heal broken bones, but she could at least stop the bleeding and heal part of the burns.

The big machine's beam cannon then completed its charging, and after blocking yet another barrage of red beams dropped its barrier and fired directly at another super-heavy, wiping it clean off the map.

Then, as Kureha's gaze shifted towards the orange fighter, she saw it move in on a line of Turtles that were separate from the ones that the blue sword-wielding machine was engaging. The black box that was attached to the craft's rear then dropped what she could only assume were bombs on the enemy formation. Her guess was correct, as the bombs detonated upon landing and managed to actually destroy around 7 of the 20 Turtles in that formation while damaging the rest. After completing its bombing run, the fighter's black box then launched what could only be described as rockets from its top, only these left trails of the same green particles that the fighter and the other machines were emanating… and they also homed in on the Flying Goblets that they were targeting, eliminating 8 of them and heavily damaging around 4 more.

Then, to her complete shock, the fighter _transformed_ into another one of those unknown machines, and proceeded to open fire with the double beam gun in its right hand at the damaged fliers, destroying them with only around seven or so shots. It then back-flipped in midair to avoid a beam that was fired at it from behind, and opened fire with what looked like hip-mounted beam machine guns in retaliation, shredding through the armor of the offender that fired the beam and destroying its core a few seconds later.

The machine that was wielding the sword charged towards the group of Turtles that survived the bombing run which were beginning to regenerate. The ground-based Neuroi, trying to fend off their attacker, fired a barrage of beams, but the blue machine twisted its body in ways that should be impossible for something of its size to dodge before slicing its way through the first Turtle, destroying it in an instant. It then swerved out of the way of several more beams before killing another two Turtles with a 360 degree circular slice.

That was when several beams were fired from the green machine's sniper rifle from above, taking out the rest of the Turtles that were moving to engage the sword-wielding machine, which shifted its attention to another group of Neuroi walkers.

As Filicia looked on at the one-sided battle that the unknown machines were waging against the Neuroi, the tactical side of herself took note of how the machines seemed to choose their targets based on priority and proximity, as well as the fact that more often than not, one of the machines will draw the fire of a cluster of Neuroi while the other would move in and destroy the distracted enemies. _'It may not look like it at first, but they're working as a team.'_ The commander of the 1121st Platoon thought to herself.

She was interrupted from any further thoughts as she noticed a few Flying Goblets break through the line that the machines were holding and were heading right towards her. But before they could fire, eight small dagger-like objects propelled by those strange green particles started harassing them, firing at them from multiple angles. Although the enemy fliers tried to shoot them down, the dagger-like objects were too quick for them to destroy. Although she was amazed at what she was seeing, Filicia wasn't going to waste this opportunity; she took aim at the closest of the Flying Goblets with her 5 cm cannon and pulled the trigger, sending the shell flying straight at its now-exposed core and destroying it.

…Was it just her, or did the dagger-like objects _deliberately_ let her have that kill? Because they were focusing their fire on the other two enemy Flying Goblets when she pulled the trigger…

Filicia shoved that thought to the back of her mind; she was still in a warzone, and she'll have time to figure it out later. A quick glance behind her to make sure that Kanata was still safe, and she was back on the alert… just in time to see two large pink beams impale the two fliers and an unfortunate Turtle. Looking back up, she saw that the two rectangular black boxes on the machine's shoulders have pivoted forward, and that each of them now had two barrels protruding from them.

"They're more than just shield emitters?!" the shocked commander exclaimed, as she had noticed them open every time the machine's green shield was deployed.

But as she looked back at the battlefield, she was once again shocked at what she was seeing; what few Neuroi were left, which consisted of two super-heavies, around nine or ten Turtles, and five Flying Goblets, were _retreating_, something that she had never seen a Neuroi do before.

As she looked around the battle zone to confirm that there weren't any other enemies, she noticed the four strange machines land roughly 350 meters away from them, or rather hover just off the ground in the case of the orange machine. The silence was deafening, as the tank crews and Witches who composed of the 1121st Platoon looked at their mechanical saviors in wonder. Then, after around two minutes of silence, one of the machines, the one with the sword now folded along its right arm, turned and began to slowly walk towards them.

The tanks stood their ground, but the crews, as well as the Witches, were nervous. And they had the right to be; they had just seen these same four machines practically annihilate an entire Neuroi invasion force without once taking any amount of damage. They didn't want to even think about trying to defeat one of them, let alone all four, them, for that seemed to be impossible. Right now, the only thing they could hope for was-

The machine stopped around 50 meters away from them. Its head gazed down at them, turning to observe each of them. Upon spotting the injured form of Kanata, though, it kneeled down… and opened up its chest, allowing a figure wearing strange grey armor to step out.

* * *

_General POV: Celestial Being_

The four Gundam Meisters watched as the remaining Neuroi beat a hasty retreat. "I've never seen the Neuroi retreat before…" Lynette said to herself.

However, due to the open comm. link she had with her comrades, they still heard her. "Me neither, Lynne… me neither…" Yoshika replied back, even as her gaze shifted towards the ground Witches and tanks that were warily watching them, before her eyes settled on one of the Witches who looked to be seriously injured.

"Heh. I bet if they had tails, they'd be tucked between their legs while they were running!" Carla barked out a laugh at another victory.

Yoshika ignored her teammate's chatter as she began to walk the Exia towards the ground Witches and the accompanying tanks, something that didn't escape the notice of Michiko.

"Yoshika, what are you doing?" Asked the pilot of the Virtue, gaining the attention of Lynette and Carla.

"Oi, Miyafuji. What's going on?" Carla asked.

Lynette remained silent as her gaze shifted towards where the Exia's head was facing, and immediately spotted the injured Witch that was among the ground forces. She remembered a similar situation occurring during her and Yoshika's time in the 501st JFW involving Gertrud Barkhorn, so it didn't take long for the Britannian to figure out what Yoshika was up to. "She's going to heal her…"

"Eh?" The Liberion asked.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Michiko asked, before her eyes also landed on the injured Witch on the ground. Her eyes widened, even as on her communication screen she saw Yoshika take off her helmet. "Yoshika, what are you doing?! Do you _want_ them to find out your identity?!"

"Relax, Micchi." The younger adoptive Vashti replied, pulling out her pendant which was the Closed Form of the Strike Gundam IS. "I know what I'm doing. Strike, standby."

"**Standby ready. Setting up."** A monotone female voice sounded out from the pendant as it glowed brightly for a moment, the Strike's armor forming around Yoshika's body.

Inside the armor, Yoshika ran through a few systems checks and, after finding the results to be satisfactory, popped the hatch for the Exia's cockpit after getting the Gundam to kneel down approximately 50 meters away from the ground Witches and tanks.

Riding the zip-line down to the ground, the younger Vashti looked at the assorted ground forces before settling her eyes on the injured Witch, and began to walk towards her after remotely sending a command via QBW to raise the zip-line and close the cockpit hatch to prevent anyone from trying to steal it.

Not that they could since they lacked her biometrics and quantum brainwaves, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

* * *

_General POV: 1121__st__ Platoon_

The members of the 1121st watched nervously as the armored figure approached them, seemingly ignoring the tanks and focusing solely on the Witches, who tensed in case the armored figure tried anything hostile.

Filicia and Rio, on the other hand, were especially nervous; if one of the pilots, whom they suspected was a Witch if the small amounts of magic they were sensing from the armor was anything to go by, had decided to come face-to-face with them, then they could bet that the Witch in question could easily take them down if it ever came to a fight, even _if_ she looked unarmed. Out of the corner of her eye, Rio saw Kureha slowly aim her two cannons at the armored Witch, as well as the tanks tracking her every move, ready to fire if needed.

The armored girl, since only a girl could be a Witch, stopped and shifted her gaze across the tanks and the other Witches, before the yellow eyes of the armor's faceplate looked directly at Filicia and flashed brightly for a moment.

Filicia tensed, and the rest of the Witches took aim and prepared to fire. But the armored Witch just stood there and stared them down for a few minutes until she shook her head and began to close the distance again, as the Witches and tank crews tracked her every move.

Filicia and Rio took notice of who the unknown Witch was walking towards, and swiftly placed themselves between her and Kanata and took aim with their cannons, causing the armored girl to stop and stare at the two of them just a few paces away.

* * *

_General POV: Celestial Being_

Inside the Strike's armor, Yoshika sighed. _'While I like the fact they're trying to protect her, there are two things wrong with this picture: One, I intend to heal her, not hurt her. And two; even though the Phase Shift isn't active, they're aiming what's likely steel-jacketed shells at _E-Carbon_, a material that's 20 times stronger than carbon nanotubes, which are stronger than _diamond._ I don't know whether to praise then for protecting their comrade with their lives or scold them for doing something so stupid. If those guns are loaded with HE shells, then the shrapnel would just bounce right off the armor and back at them, potentially killing all three of them, while AP shells would simply bounce off completely. I didn't come here for a fight; best make sure they understand that.'_ With that two-second thought process done, she shook her head at the two Witches in front of her.

Seeing them lower their weapons was reassuring, but they still refused to move. _'Well, this is problematic. I can't talk to them, as there's the possibility of running into them in the future without the Strike keeping my identity hidden, and they might recognize my voice. Perhaps I could use… no, can't use quantum brainwaves either; they might still recognize my voice that way… great; guess I'll just have to wing it.'_ Shaking her head again, she took a few steps forward until she was right in front of the injured girl who was laying on the ground, clutching her obviously-broken and heavily-burnt arm tightly in a futile attempt to ease the pain, although the Meister noted that it wasn't as bad as when she first saw it from the Exia's cockpit earlier; that only meant that one of the Witches present was a healing-type.

Ignoring the feeling of sensing all of their guns being pointed directly at her, Yoshika knelt down and slowly moved the girl's right arm out of the way to get a closer look at the wound on the her left arm, being as gentle as she could in a suit of armor made out of E-Carbon. Using the advanced sensors of the Strike IS, the youngest of the Vashti's gathered enough data on the broken bone to build a 3D image of the broken bone, and, using her medical knowledge as well as instructions from the Haro unit she's wirelessly linked with back onboard the Exia, she grabbed onto two different areas of the arm and, with a sharp yank, popped the bone back into place while enticing an agonized wail from the girl she was trying to help.

Just from that one action, Yoshika could immediately sense the huge amount of killing intent aimed directly at her, which made her tense in preparation if things went south.

Fortunately, though, one of them recognized what she was doing. "You were setting the bone, weren't you?" Asked the only Witch among the assorted ground forces that had tan skin. "Thank you; I'm still not skilled enough to set broken bones."

This caused Yoshika to blink, but she nodded a moment later to let them know she didn't mean any harm.

Although the Gundam Meister sensed the slight shock of the others, she kept her attention on the Witch in front of her, who began to speak again. "Do you need any help? I should be able to heal more of the damage now that the bone's set."

Now Yoshika began to grin to herself; she wouldn't run the risk of having her magic signature identified if she were to comply. Remembering that she wasn't allowed to speak, she nodded again, and moved aside to allow the now-identified healing Witch to do her work.

'_Looking at it from this angle, it looks like a miracle is happening…'_ The Meister thought to herself as she had the Strike use every sensor it had to record the phenomenon and send the data back to Veda for Tieria to analyze; Celestial Being was still researching the power known as magic, so every little bit of data helped.

After several minutes, which Yoshika saw the injured Witch's wounds gradually heal and fade away, the healer stopped the flow of magic and slumped, no doubt exhausted. Thinking quickly, the armored Witch wrapped an arm around the healer before she could completely collapse, earning a look of gratitude and a "Thank you." from her, to which the Meister just nodded in response.

Seeing that her help wouldn't be needed any longer as the mass supply drop from orbit would be launched any minute, Yoshika stood up and began to walk back to the Exia.

"Wait!"

Yoshika stopped and looked over her shoulder, seeing that it was the blonde girl who had called out to her.

"Who are you?" The girl, who Yoshika suspected to be the leader of the contingent force present, asked.

Yoshika remained silent, knowing that saying her name would be a worst-case scenario. Thinking quickly, she looked back at the Exia and, on the Strike's sensors, saw the Celestial Being emblem on the upper torso. Looking back at the apparent commander, she pointed at the upper torso of her Gundam.

She sensed the blonde girl's confusion as she looked at the Gundam, before squinting her eyes as she finally saw what she was apparently looking for. The Gundam Meister then saw the girl pull out a pair of binoculars from one of her uniform's pockets to get a closer look.

"Celestial… Being…" The girl said to herself, before moving the binoculars up a bit to look at the top of the head. "Gun… dam…" Lowering the binoculars, she looked at Yoshika in confusion.

The Gundam Meister was done answering questions, however, and she resumed walking back to her Gundam, sending the remote command for her Haro to open the cockpit and lower the zip-line, all the while ignoring the blonde girl's few attempts to get more answers out of her. Once back inside Exia and after the cockpit had closed back up, Yoshika disengaged the Strike IS, allowing it to return to its Closed Form around her neck as she put her helmet back on.

"Yoshika, what were you thinking?!" Michiko exclaimed as she walked Virtue up next to Exia, the other two Gundams doing so as well… or in the Kyrios' case, floated next to Exia due to the boosters on its legs making it impractical to try walking.

"I couldn't just leave her in agony, could I?" Yoshika answered her cousin's question with her own, before contacting Sumeragi. "Miss Sumeragi, the path is clear for the supply drop. Repeat, the path is clear for the supply drop."

"_Roger that, Yoshika. I'll alert the orbiting fleets to commence the drop… and please, don't risk yourself like that again."_ The tactical forecaster replied.

"Alright, ma'am. I won't do it again." Exia's Meister responded before closing the link, looking upwards in the panoramic cockpit in the general direction where the supply pods would be dropping from.

* * *

Up in space, the ships and Mobile Suits consisting of the 1st through 8th Orbital Defense Fleets received the signal they were waiting for from the _Ptolemaios 3_.

One of the Mobile Suits was a GN-X-type sporting a grey and light green color scheme. On top of its head was an additional camera similar to that used by the GN-002 Gundam Dynames in place of the large sensor that was above the four main eyes of the machine, behind which was a large vertical fin equipped with extra sensors. On its right shoulder hardpoint was a large GN Sniper Rifle that was also similar to the Dynames', while on the left hardpoint was an Advanced GN Beam Rifle. On the upper thighs of the machine were two holsters which each housed a single GN Beam Machine Pistol that is equipped with a GN Bayonet Blade. This machine was a GNX-604T/SC Advanced GN-X Sniper Custom.

Inside the cockpit was a young woman around 21 years old who was wearing a green Celestial Being Normal Suit who looked surprisingly like an older version of Lynette Bishop. This girl was Wilma Bishop, Lynette's eldest sister and an elite pilot in Celestial Being, as well as a former observer agent stationed in the Isle of Wight Detachment Force meant to support the now-disbanded 501st Joint Fighter Wing.

With her were three more Mobile Suits. The first one was a white GN-X-like unit that was pure white in color with a few areas that were black. Its head was similar to that of the GNW-002 Gundam Throne Zwei's, but included a large sensor in the forehead and lacked the signature V-fin that the Gundams had. On its back were two large particle emitters of different types that were arranged in an X-shape, which were spewing large amounts of yellow GN particles. In its right hand was a GN Long Barrel Rifle, while on its left arm was a GN Chain Gun as well as a beam saber stored within the right knee armor. On the left shoulder was a GN Defense Rod, while on the right shoulder was a large GN Shield that doubled as a GN Condenser for the rifle. This machine was the GNX-509T Throne Varanus.

The second machine, unlike the Varanus, was mostly a white and light blue tundra color scheme save for the purple GN Drive core in its torso and four purple eyes on its head, above which were two head-mounted GN Vulcans. On its back were two particle emitters that were similar to the Throne Varanus' shoulder-mounted pair but smaller in size and arranged in an X-shape. On the left shoulder hardpoint was a large GN Buster Sword, while on the right hardpoint was a large sensor fin meant to help increase the pilot's close combat performance. On its hips were two beam sabers stored in compartments. This machine was a GNX-607T/AC GN-XII Sword Custom.

The third machine was similar to the GN-XII Sword Custom, but with a few differences. For one, it was mostly tan and dark grey in color instead of the tundra color scheme of the Sword Custom. Another difference was that instead of a large buster sword on the left shoulder hardpoint, there was a large GN Mega Launcher on the right shoulder hardpoint, with the left hardpoint being equipped with a large sensor fin should the unit find itself in a close combat situation. On its head was a large central long range targeting camera surrounded by four smaller cameras, all of which were violet in color. On its hips, as per standard of the GN-X series of Mobile Suits, were two beam sabers stored in hip-mounted compartments. This machine was a GNX-607T/BW GN-XII Cannon Custom.

Inside the cockpit of the Throne Varanus was a girl who was 22 years old and was wearing a white and silver Normal Suit. She had short black hair, as well as black eyes. This girl was Kuroe Ayaka, one of Celestial Being's most experienced Witches who was recruited back in 1942 when she was assigned to the 64th Flying Squadron.

"Hey, Wilma. You nearly done over there?" Kuroe asked her Britannian friend as she maneuvered a drop pod into position.

"Just finishing up." Wilma replied as she moved another pod into its designated position, before turning her head to get a look at the two GN-X units. "Nipa, Katharine, how are you two doing?"

In the cockpit of the GN-XII Sword Custom was a girl who was around 15 years old and was wearing a Normal Suit that had a white and light blue tundra color scheme. She had short yellow-blonde hair, as well as teal eyes. This girl was Nikka Edvardine Katajainen, one of Celestial Being's recently recruited Witches who used to be a member of the 502nd JFW, also known as the Brave Witches, before she was rescued from certain death by the Nakajima reconnaissance team after being shot down by the Neuroi deep in the forests of Suomus before she froze to death in a violent blizzard.

In the cockpit of the GN-XII Cannon Custom was a young woman who looked like she was 23 years old and was wearing a tan Normal Suit. She also had golden blonde hair tied in a ponytail underneath her helmet and teal eyes the same shade as Nikka's. This young woman was Katharine O'Hare, another of Celestial Being's recently recruited Witches who used to be a member of the 507th JFW, also known as the Silent Witches, before she was forced into retirement for crashing too many Striker Units, allowing Celestial Being to recruit her with little problems.

"Just finishing up here, Wilma." Nikka reported as she had her GN-X maneuver the last of her drop pods into position.

"Hold on a second, cowgirl…" Katharine replied as her GN-X finished pushing the last of her drop pods into position. "…and done."

Just then, a small screen popped up on their main monitors, showing the face of a man who looked to be around 35 years old, had short blonde hair and a moustache that match his hair color. This man was Lewis Halberton, the Fleet Commander of the ESF's 8th Defense Fleet and the captain of the _Nile_-class Space Battleship _Exodus_. _"Are you ladies finished? We're just about to send the pods down, so return to the ship."_ Halberton told them.

The unspoken warning of them running the risk of getting caught in Earth's gravity well due to their current decaying orbital trajectory didn't go unnoticed by Kuroe, who by now had three years of experience living in space. "Yes, sir. Gamma Team will return to the mothership." She responded, earning a nod from Halberton.

Katharine objected. "Aww! I wanted to see these things get sent into the atmosphere!" She whined, with Nikka nodding as well.

Kuroe would have none of it, however. "Listen you two, the GN-X series was never meant to enter the atmosphere; it simply wasn't designed to handle it. Do you really want to die in a fireball as your Mobile Suit explodes during re-entry… that is, if you don't burn to a crisp first?" She asked.

Nikka and Katharine visibly paled despite them wearing their helmets, and they shook their heads rapidly.

"Thought so." With that said, Kuroe flew the Varanus back to the _Exodus_ as the other three followed her. Arriving at the ship's open hangar doors, Kuroe paused as she pressed a few buttons to fold the GN particle emitters inwards along the back, giving the unit enough room to squeeze into the hangar.

After the Varanus entered the hangar doors, it was followed by the other three units of the Gamma Team, after which were several GN-XIII's and IV's. Only after the _Exodus_ recovered all of its Mobile Suits did it close its hangar doors and angle itself so that the enormous drop pod container that was attached to the bottom docking clamps was pointing at the Earth at the specified angle provided by Veda, an action that was repeated by all the other _Nile_, _Ural_, and _Volga_-class ships in the fleet.

"Final countdown to drop sequence." A crewmember of the _Exodus_ said, starting the countdown. "7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… 0!"

"Commence the drop!" Halberton ordered to all the vessels in the combined armada.

"_Commencing drop!"_ The captains of the other vessels replied as their ships, which were also angled in a way similar to the _Exodus_, fired the pods from their containers rapidly, with the _Exodus_ joining in as it too fired its own pods. The pods that were freely floating in space ignited their boosters, hurtling themselves towards the planet below. They were all headed towards specified targets in Helvetia which were most likely to hold survivors, as their limited electronics and course-correction RCS thrusters making the necessary adjustments needed to account for the atmospheric reentry.

* * *

_General POV, 1121__st__ Platoon_

Back on the ground, the 1121st Platoon were warily watching the now-identified Gundams that have yet to leave. Then, after several minutes, the heads of the four machines snapped skyward almost simultaneously. Surprised by this, the Witches also looked up… only to see what looked like several meteors headed in their general direction. They began to panic, but Filicia noticed that the behavior of the "meteors" weren't normal.

In fact, they seemed to be slowing down.

As she watched on, she took note that the Gundams weren't doing anything to oppose them… but were rather waiting in anticipation for something.

Looking back up at the supposed meteors again, she saw that the fiery trail had dissipated, allowing her to see… metal? That ruled out meteors then, since there was no known meteor to be made entirely out of metal. So were they bombs? Filicia doubted it; after all, what was the point of killing them if those Gundams went through the trouble of saving their lives first? That ruled out bombs as well, so what were-

That was when a set of three large parachutes deployed from each of the metallic objects, making her eyes widen as she finally figured out what they were, having seen something similar years ago back when Romagnan transport planes were able to air-drop supplies.

This was similar, but on a much bigger scale if the size of those pods were anything to go by.

On impulse, she began to run to where the nearest of the pods would land, ignoring the calls from her friends and comrades to come back. As it landed, the parachute detached from the 18 meter tall pod and drifted away, landing on top of a ruined building 75 meters away. She paid that no mind, as now several large bolts on one side of the pod exploded, the force sending a large ramp-like door that used to be a part of the pod's outer casing crashing down onto the ground with a loud _THUMP_. Leaping up on the ramp, she slowly waked into the pod even as her eyes widened in shock at what she was seeing.

Crates.

Lots and lots of well-marked supply crates, ranging from food and medical supplies to ammunition and additional weapons.

She was still staring at the contents of the pod when Rio cautiously walked up behind her. "Filicia, what's the matter? We've been… calling… you…" She trailed off, eyes wide in shock as she was finally able to see the contents of the pod.

* * *

_General POV: Celestial Being_

The four Gundam Meisters were observing the two Witches, who were looking at the contents of the drop pod in shock, with smiles on their faces, even when the blonde Witch said something in her transponder.

"Looks like we were just in time." Michiko said as she saw the crews of the tanks leap out of their vehicles and running up to the pod, before breaking out into cheers.

Yoshika nodded. "Yeah. Looks like we were."

Seeing that the blonde commander was looking at them with wide eyes, Yoshika made Exia's head nod at her unheard question, before engaging the GN Drive and slowly lifting the Gundam off the ground. "Come on, girls; let's head back."

"Roger." Carla and Michiko replied, but Lynette remained silent as she followed the others into the sky, headed west out of Helvetia.

It took Yoshika a few minutes to realize that the sniper hadn't acknowledged her. "Lynne? Is something wrong?" She asked in concern, looking at the Dynames off to her left as the four Gundams flew in formation before opening a communication link to the green Gundam.

She was surprised to find Lynette with her helmet off, wiping away a few tears. "I-It's nothing… it's just… I'm happy to have been able to help them…"

Yoshika, along with Carla and Michiko who were listening in, smiled. "Yeah…" The younger Vashti said in reply, even as the four Gundams continued their egress from Helvetia using the specified route.

* * *

_Africa, Sahara Desert_

_General POV, Celestial Being_

As the mission in Helvetia was being completed, a single machine was flying across the Sahara Desert. It was completely black save for a white stripe running along the top of its nose-mounted weapon, and had two pairs of forward-swept wings, with the front pair being smaller than the back pair. Underneath the wings were what at first appeared to be external fuel tanks but, interestingly enough, there was a fist at the front of each, and at the rear of the craft was, instead of a conventional aircraft's tail, a set of twin tails that didn't have a vertical stabilizer nor elevators normally found on conventional aircraft. This machine was the Fighter Mode of the SVMS-01O Over Flag Celestial Being Version. Its pilot, none other than Jane Thatch.

"Now, it should be around here…" Jane T. said to herself, looking around the desert for any signs of the base she was assigned to, only to find nothing but sand. Taking another look at the virtual map on her right, she saw that she was easily within visual distance of the base.

Her left eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

As she began scanning the desert sands again for any sign of the base she was assigned to, when her communication system suddenly beeped, signaling that someone was trying to make contact with her. Deciding to comply, she opened the link.

"_This is Sahara Base Beta calling inbound Over Flag. Pilot, state your name and ID Number."_ A voice said to her.

Jane T. was expecting this, but she still couldn't see the base. She complied nonetheless. "ID Number is 304687. Jane Thatch, reporting for duty to assume command of the Overflags."

There was silence for a few seconds before the voice responded. _"Confirmed pilot as Wing Commander Jane Thatch. Opening main hatch."_

That caused her to blink in confusion, but that was almost immediately replaced with shock as a portion of the desert sand _lifted_, revealing the entrance to an underground base.

'_No wonder I couldn't find it… it's so well hidden I would have missed it completely if I was on foot!'_ She thought to herself, swinging her Over Flag around and lining up with the tunnel entrance. After a few moments, though, she decided to land in a different way; with a sharp flick of the controls, she made her Over Flag perform a tight backflip. As the rear of the unit reached the top of the arc, Jane T. disengaged the locks keeping the legs in place, using the momentum to drag the legs out, while simultaneously ejecting the linear rifle that made up the nose from the torso and snatching it in midair with her machine's right hand as the arms unfolded from their previously folded position, completing the mid-air transformation from Fighter Mode to Mobile Suit Mode.

Jane T. internally grinned at what she had just done. _'It took me lots of practice, but I can finally perform my own variation of the "Graham Special"!'_ She thought to herself.

If Graham Aker were watching, he would have been proud.

With that thought done, she guided her Mobile Suit into the underground tunnel, which closed as soon as she was in, leaving no traces of a base being present in the middle of the vast desert as the shifting sands quickly covered the hatch once more.

Walking her Over Flag down the slanted tunnel, Jane T. eventually arrived at a large hatch. Waiting a few moments, she was not disappointed as it slowly slid open, revealing the cavernous underground hangar that laid directly beyond it.

Inside the hangar were seven more Over Flags in their designated berthing areas, but there was another unit that she had never seen before.

The unit in question looked like an advanced fighter, sporting a different shape than the Kyrios' Fighter Mode. It had two tails arranged in a V-shape at the rear of the craft with one on each engine hub, large swept wings, and a pointed nose. Located at the middle of the fuselage on top was a large yellow antenna loaded with sensors, and on top of the nose was a second head that could pop up and be used as a turret due to the GN Vulcans mounted into it. On the bottom of the wings were two 5-tube GN Micro Missile/Energy Torpedo Launchers, and on the bottom of the engines were two internal bomb bays that could hold a total of four GN Guided Bombs. Mounted on the bottom of the central fuselage were two GN Gatling Beam Canons, and imbedded within the wing roots were two GN Cannons. On the ends of the wings were two Wing Extenders based on the GN Anti-ship Swords of the Empruss, which were currently folded upwards so as to not take up so much space. Unfamiliar as to what the unit was, Jane T. searched the Over Flag's database using the link to Veda, and was able to identify the unit as the GNY-003F2 Gundam Abulhool Type F2.

Something else caught her attention, though; namely, the eight girls who were staring up at her Over Flag as if waiting for her.

'_So those are the girls who I'll be commanding… I'm looking forward to working with them.'_ With that thought in mind, Jane T. maneuvered her Over Flag to a vacant spot in the hangar and powered down the unit.

* * *

Inside the base, eight girls were waiting for their new commander to arrive.

The first girl was an Ostmarkian and looked to be around 19 years old. She was wearing a customized white Normal Suit made to resemble the suit used by the original Overflags. She also had teal blue eyes and short black hair, as well as a ring on her left hand. This girl was Waltraud Nowotny, a former Flight Lieutenant of the 503rd Joint Fighter Wing "Typhoon Witches", who was recruited eleven months ago.

The second girl was an Orussian who appeared to be 21 years old. She was wearing a white Overflag Normal Suit like Waltraud's, had eyes the color of rubies, and platinum-colored hair that went down to the middle of her back, as well as a pendant hanging around her neck. This girl was Bronislava Safonov, a former observer agent for Celestial Being and Wing Commander of the 503rd JFW.

The third girl was a Gallian who looked like she was 18 years old, and she too was wearing an Overflag Normal Suit. She had long, wavy blonde hair that went down to her lower back, eyes the color of emeralds, and an earring on her left ear. This girl was Rosalie de La Poype, a former Flying Officer in the 503rd JFW before her best friend Bronislava recruited her into Celestial Being.

The fourth girl was a Liberion who looked to be 17 years old, and she was also wearing an Overflag Normal Suit. She had long blonde hair a few shades darker than Rosalie's that went down to the middle of her back, brown eyes, and a ring on her right hand. This girl was Marian E. Carl, a former candidate of the 506th JFW, "Noble Witches", who was recruited into Celestial Being before she could be transferred to the 506th from the Liberion Marine Corps.

The fifth girl was a Romagnan who appeared to be 24 years old, and she too was wearing a white Overflag Normal Suit. She had wavy silver hair that wend down just past her shoulders, cyan eyes that, at first glance, seemed to glow, and a pendant hanging around her neck. This girl was Giuseppina Cenni, a Witch who was rescued by one of Celestial Being's spies after she was shot down in 1941.

The sixth girl was a Liberion who looked like she was 17 years old, and like the others before her she was also wearing a customized Overflag Normal Suit. She had medium-length black hair that was tied into a high ponytail, eyes that were a vibrant red, and an earring on her right ear. This girl was Rena Imelia, a Witch who was from the Liberion Marine Corps and was recruited into the organization two years ago.

The seventh girl was an Ostmarkian who was also 17 years old and wearing an Overflag Normal Suit. She had short tan hair, tan eyes the same as the Ptolemy Team's Carla Luksic, and a ring on her right hand. This girl was Eugenia Horbaczewski, also known as "Horbie" to her friends, and was recruited ten months ago from the Britannian 43rd Fighter Squadron.

The eighth and final girl, hailing from Faraway Land, looked to be around 24 years old, only a few months older than Giuseppina, and she was also wearing an Overflag Normal Suit. She had long silver hair that went down to her mid-back, eyes that were an interesting mix of green and blue, and a pendant hanging from around her neck. There was also a large, nasty scar on the left side of her face, running down from the top of her forehead down to her left cheek, covering her left eye. This girl was Elizabeth F. Beurling, a Witch who was rescued by Celestial Being from certain death back in 1941 when she was shot down by a large Neuroi bomber.

"Hey, is our new commander here yet? I'm getting tired of waiting…" Eugenia said to herself.

Everyone else heard her, however. "Oh, she'll be here soon enough." Giuseppina replied.

"Correct." Rena added. "She'll be here in a few minutes." This was said after taking a glance at her PDA.

"Do you mean minutes, or days, Rena?" Marian asked sarcastically. "Because she should have been here a few days ago!"

Rena's right eyebrow twitched in response.

"Break it up, you two." Rosalie P. said, breaking up the conflict. "We don't want to make a bad impression on our new commander now, don't we?"

The two stopped. "… No, we don't." Rena admitted, something which Marian nodded at a few seconds later.

Waltraud and Bronislava both looked at Elizabeth, who was frowning in confusion. "Is something wrong, Elizabeth?" Waltraud asked, getting the attention of the others.

Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't know… but there was something familiar about the way those two argued…"

That caused the other Witches to frown in concern, as they were well aware of Elizabeth's condition.

'_Just who am I…?'_ Elizabeth thought to herself. _'The only things I can remember are my name… and that gruesome image…'_ She closed her eyes as she recalled that memory that was always haunting her.

* * *

_Flashback_

_The sky was filled with the flashing lights of beam and gun fire, as several Witches were engaging a flight of Neuroi bombers. _

_Two particular Witches were at the very front of the charge, trying to get the first kill of the day. After a few minutes of shooting and dodging, one of the two Witches managed to destroy one of the bombers, but she was caught right in the sights of another. Before she could react, the second Witch threw herself into the line of fire as her body was riddled with red bullets._

_As the now-dead Witch fell, her lifeless eyes stared into Elizabeth's._

"_CASSIDY!"_

_Flashback End_

* * *

Elizabeth shook her head, not wanting to try and remember those specific events despite them being the only other thing she remembered before she was rescued from death by Celestial Being.

The amnesiac girl sighed. _'Just who was I before… and, why does that name, Cassidy, haunt me so much?'_

Bronislava was about to say something when she spotted something moving in her peripheral vision. Moving her head to the right, she saw that the main hatch leading up to the surface was opening. "She's here."

The got the attention of the others as they all looked at the Over Flag that was just now walking into the hangar. They kept their yes on the unit, even as it turned its head to look at them for a few moments before walking to a vacant area before powering down. As the cockpit opened and the pilot rode down a zip-line, the others ran up to her.

As the pilot touched down, Rena decided to cut to the chase. "So you're our new commander… Jane Thatch."

Jane T. removed her helmet, revealing her face to the others. The then smiled as she shifted her gaze to each of her new subordinates. "So you girls are the ones I'll be working with from now on… a pleasure to meet you. My name is Jane Thatch, and I'm looking forward to working with you."

_Next Time: Shifting Sands_

* * *

**A/N: And that concludes chapter 4. That took me a lot longer to write out than I thought, but things like college and the accompanying workload kept getting in the way. But anyway, here are the specs of the machines that debuted in this chapter.**

* * *

**01) CGUE**

**Unit type: **2.5th Gen High Performance General-Purpose IS

**Developed from:** GINN

**Developed into:** GuAIZ

**Variants:** CGUE DEEP Arms, CGUE Assault

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being ESF Faction

**Operators:** Celestial Being ESF Faction

**Known Pilots:** Jane Thatch

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon

**Armaments:** N/A

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Magic Energy Shield System

DINN Aerial Maneuver Fighter Wing System - Allows the CGUE unrestricted aerial flight in Earth's atmosphere.

**Optional Equipment:**

MA-M4A Heavy Thermal Sword

MMI-M7S 20mm Heavy Assault Machine Gun

MMI-M100 19mm Anti-Aircraft Shotgun

M7070 18mm Vulcan System Shield

M68 "Cattus" 75mm Recoilless Rifle

**Colors:** White (standard), Red (alternate), Purple and Black (alternate)

* * *

**02) Works GINN**

**Unit type: **2nd Gen Worker/Repair IS

**Developed from:** GINN

**Developed into:** none

**Variants:** none

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being ESF Faction

**Operators:** Celestial Being ESF Faction, Ptolemy Team

**Known Pilots:** Satoko Nakajima, Hoshino Kanemoto, Suzuki Ishihara, Tsuchiya Kitamura

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon

**Armaments:** Linear Gun

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Magic Energy Shield System

Towing Winch

Various tools and repair equipment – stored in numerous Equalizers

**Optional Equipment:**

MA-M4A Heavy Thermal Sword

MMI-M7S 20mm Heavy Assault Machine Gun

MMI-M100 19mm Anti-Aircraft Shotgun

M7070 18mm Vulcan System Shield

M68 "Cattus" 75mm Recoilless Rifle

**Colors:** Orange, white, and gray

* * *

**G 01) Duel Gundam**

**Unit type:** 3rd-3.5th Gen Prototype General-Purpose IS

**Developed from:** GN-000FA Full-Armor 0 Gundam, GNY-004 Gundam Plutone

**Developed into: **Duel Dagger

**Variants:** Blu Duel Gundam, Regen Duel Gundam

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots:** Carla Luksic

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor:** E-Carbon, Magic Energy Composite Armor, Phase-Shift Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x "Igelstellung" 9mm Multi-barrel Head-mounted Laser Vulcan

2 x Beam Saber

Assault Shroud

• "Shiva" 37mm Railgun

• 55mm 5-barrel Missile Pod

◾ 15 x Missile

• 30mm 6-barrel Gatling Machine Gun (later upgrade, mounted above Missile Pod)

Dual Beam Gun/Claw Emitters - It is mounted on the hardpoint of the forearm, leaving the hand free. It can be equipped on either the right or left arm underneath the shield.

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Hardpoints (for specific Striker Packs to improve aerial flight and mobility)

Magic Energy Composite Armor - When Celestial Being started creating Innovative Strikers modeled after their previous generation Gundams, one of the ideas that was brought over was the concept of a magical energy version of GN Composite Armor. Like the GN Composite Armor idea, Magic Energy Composite Armor is a magic, pseudo-quantum system in which Magic Shields are deployed within the small spaces within the armor in order to improve its defense capabilities. Starting with Duel, it soon became standard equipment with future Celestial Being's Gundam-type Innovative Strikers. Unlike Phase Shift Armor, Magic Energy Composite Armor can protect the IS from both physical and beam attacks although it would cost the Witch some of her Magic Energy and cannot be powered indefinitely with solar energy like Phase Shift Armor. It is important to note that both Magic Energy Composite Armor and Phase Shift Armor will not be on at the same time - one of them would be off while the other is fully activated. It is up to the Witch to determine which armor system to use and alternate in-between during live combat.

Phase Shift Armor - Although Magic Energy Composite Armor proved very much effective against most forms of physical and energy attacks, it still drained the Witch of her magic she needs to activate/deactivate and operate their Innovative Striker. The need to help the Witch pilots save as much of their magic energy as possible led to the development of a cost-effective armor system that doesn't need to depend on Magic Energy to work. Phase Shift Armor is an energy shield system that greatly reduce the damage from all forms of physical attacks although in most practicalities, PS armor makes a IS virtually immune to solid body impact attacks. However Phase Shift armor continually drains the battery of energy, which can potentially shortening the IS's combat endurance and uses up additional energy when it is hit, although this minor drawback is partially mitigated by the continuous supply of solar energy from the IS's Solar Energy System. However, Phase Shift Armor was meant to work against physical attacks first and foremost as most beam weapons or other energy-based attacks are able to overpower PS Armor faster than ballistic weapons and should not be considered an alternative to Magic Energy Composite Armor or Magic Shield.

**Optional Equipment:**

23mm High-energy Beam Rifle w/47mm Grenade Launcher

Shield

M7070 18mm Vulcan System Shield (alternative shield)

37mm "Gáe Bulg" Rail bazooka

NOL-Y941 Heavy Laser Sword

Aile Striker

• 2 x Beam Saber

**Colors:** Original Duel Gundam colors

* * *

**G 02) Buster Gundam**

**Unit type:** 3rd Gen Prototype Artillery IS

**Developed from:** GNY-001F Gundam Astraea Type F, GN-002 Gundam Dynames

**Developed into:** Buster Dagger

**Variants:** Verde Buster Gundam, Hail Buster Gundam

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots:** Lynette Bishop

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor: **E-Carbon, Magic Energy Composite Armor, Phase-Shift Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x "Igelstellung" 9mm Multi-barrel Head-mounted Laser Vulcan

2 x 37mm 6-barrel Missile Pod

• 18 x Missile

45mm Gun Launcher

23mm High-Energy Rifle

2 x Beam Saber/Tonfa (later upgrade)

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Hardpoints (for Aile Striker Kai Pack only to improve aerial flight and mobility)

Anti-Armor Shotgun - When the High-energy Rifle and Gun Launcher combine, with the Gun Launcher on the front, it forms a very powerful shell-firing Anti-Armor Shotgun. It fires a single stream containing multiple shells that later splits apart, resulting in a scatter shot that damages a wide area. It appears that about four or five shells fired from the Anti-Armor Shotgun is enough to destroy some battleships and large scale Neuroi.

Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle - When the High-energy Rifle and Gun Launcher combine, with the High-energy Rifle on the front, it can form a Hyper Impulse Long-Range Sniper Rifle. This beam cannon type weapon has a very high energy output, firing a larger beam that is capable of penetrating several targets, including battleships, making it the strongest weapon in the Buster's arsenal. As the name implies, it also features sniping capabilities due to the longer range of the beam. Although the combined forms has higher power, the rate of fire is decreased.

**Optional Equipment:**

Aile Striker Kai

• 2 x Beam Saber

• 2 x 15mm Laser Gatling Cannon

**Colors:** Original Buster Gundam colors

* * *

**G 03) Blitz Gundam**

**Unit type:** 3rd Gen Prototype Stealth Combat IS

**Developed from:**

GNY-001F Gundam Astraea Type F

GN-001 Gundam Exia

GNW-003 Gundam Throne Drei

**Developed into:** N Dagger N

**Variants:** Nebula Blitz Gundam IS

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being

**Known Pilots:** To Be Announced

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor:** E-Carbon, Magic Energy Composite Armor, Phase-Shift Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x "Igelstellung" 9mm Multi-barrel Head-mounted Laser Vulcan

Piercer Lock "Gleipnir"

"Trikeros" Offensive Shield System

• 23mm High-energy Beam Rifle

• Beam Saber

• 3 x "Lancer Dart" Hypervelocity Kinetic Energy Penetrator

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Mirage Colloid Stealth System - The Blitz is the first IS to use the Mirage Colloid technology. The stealth system uses a field of microscopic prisms capable of bending light and radar waves that are held in suspension around a mobile suit by powerful magnetic field. However due to the system's high energy consumption, it could only be activated for up to 80 minutes. Also, since both Magic Energy Composite Armor and Phase Shift Armor is disabled while Mirage Colloid is active, the Blitz is highly vulnerable in its cloaked state if an enemy is able to locate its position.

**Optional Equipment:**

3D Ultracompact Optical Sensor Array - A 3D sensor array made of ultra-small optical sensor units, it is mounted in the head and protected by a visor [A/N: the same visor used by UT-1D Civilian Astray DSSD Custom]. When used together with high performance graphic processing unit, super high-definition recording is possible.

**Colors:** Original Blitz Gundam colors

* * *

**G 04) Aegis Gundam**

**Unit type:** 3rd Gen Prototype Commander-use Assault IS

**Developed from:** CB-001.5 1.5 Gundam, GN-05 Gundam Virtue

**Developed into:** To Be Announced

**Variants:** Rosso Aegis Gundam IS

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots: **To Be Announced

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor:** E-Carbon, Magic Energy Composite Armor, Phase-Shift Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x "Igelstellung" 9mm Multi-barrel Head-mounted Laser Vulcan

4 x Beam Saber (mounted on forearms and feet)

"Scylla" 75mm Energy Cannon

"Kurimuzon" Offensive Shield

• 37mm Variable-power Railgun

• 15mm Double Gatling Gun/Double Gatling Beam Gun

• 2 x Panzer-Faust

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Flight Pack

EF-24R Flight Rotor Shrike

**Optional Equipment:**

30mm High Energy Beam Rifle

M7070 18mm Vulcan System Shield (alternative shield)

**Colors:** Original Aegis Gundam colors

* * *

**G 05) Strike Gundam**

**Namesake: **Strike Gundam, Strike

**Unit type:** 3.5th Gen Prototype Multi-Mode IS

**Developed from:** GN-XXX Gundam Rasiel, GN-XXX + GNR-000 Sefer Rasiel

**Developed into:** Strike Rouge Gundam, 105 Dagger, Akatsuki Gundam

**Variants:**

Aile Strike Gundam

• Gale Strike Gundam

Sword Strike Gundam

Launcher Strike Gundam

Perfect Strike Gundam (2nd Shift form)

Strike Gundam IWSP

Lightning Strike Gundam

Strike Gundam E

**Combines into:** Gunbarrel Strike Gundam

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots:** Yoshika Miyafuji Vashti

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor:** E-Carbon, Magic Energy Composite Armor, Phase-Shift Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x "Igelstellung" 9mm Multi-barrel Head-mounted Laser Vulcan

2 x "Armor Schneider" Combat Knife

4 x "Armor Schneider II" Combat Heat Knife (later upgrade) (2 x mounted in feet, similar to the Aegis Gundam's foot-mounted beam sabers)

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Hardpoints (for Striker Packs)

Instant Striker Pack Install System - Allows the Strike Gundam to use and switch between the various Striker Packs which had already been installed into the Strike. Since each Striker Pack contains its own internal battery unit, the Strike can just simply switch out Striker Packs when the current one in use is running low on energy, allowing the Strike to remain and engage in a prolonged firefight with Witch-like or IS-like Neuroi, who do not have the unique advantages the Strike has. Plus, this special feature eliminates the need to reserve or contain numerous Equalizers for each weapon, since one Strike Pack contains numerous weapons and makes the time-consuming process of changing and equipping individual Equalizers outdated and inefficient.

4 x Extended Solar Battery Pack - In Perfect Strike Gundam configuration (2nd Shift form), the Strike Gundam uses a lot more energy than the Solar Energy System can replenish. Since the energy usage become a serious problem when both the Aile Striker, the Sword Striker and the Launcher Striker are used at the same time, the Perfect Strike is equipped with 4 extended battery packs are mounted on the modified Aile Striker. Each battery can be jettisoned after its energy is used up in order to avoid being dead-weight.

**Optional Equipment:**

23mm High-energy Beam Rifle

Shield

9-tube "Fliegerhammer II" Guided Rocket Launcher - The Fliegerhammer II is an improved version of the original Fliegerhammer Rocket Launcher used by Sanya V. Litvyak, the data of which was gathered during Yoshika's time in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. Unlike its predecessor, it can fire more rockets (18 total compared to the Fliegerhammer's 9 rockets) and can be dismissed once depleted of rockets.

Type 404C "Claymore" Anti-Ship Heat Sword - Usually only brought along if Strike is not fitted with the Aile, Sword, or IWSP Striker Pack. In place of the Bazooka, it is stored on the rear side skirt when not in use. While it has less cutting power and raw strength compared to the "Schwert Gewehr" 2.78m Anti-ship Sword, it is lighter and is faster with its swing, making it a very excellent sword in the hands of a skilled sword fighter. If the Strike is equipped with the Lightning or Gunbarrel Striker Pack, then the Claymore would be stored on the left side skirt when not in use.

Aile Striker

• 2 x Beam Saber

Sword Striker

• "Schwert Gewehr" 2.78 Meter Anti-ship Sword/Laser Gun Emitter Handle

• "Panzer Eisen" Rocket Anchor

• "Midas Messer" Beam Boomerang

Launcher Striker

• "Agni" 95mm Hyper Impulse Cannon

• Combo Weapons Pod

◾20mm Anti-ship Vulcan Gun

◾2 x 45mm Gun Launcher

Gunbarrel Striker

• 4 x Wire-guided Gunbarrel pods

◾4 x GAU-758S Railgun (1 per pod)

◾8 x M70AMSAT Missiles (2 per pod)

• M58E4 Gatling Beam Gun

Lightning Striker

• Type 70-31 Electromagnetic Cannon

• Improved Battery to increase the operational time limit of the IS by as much as 150%

• High-velocity Speed Boosters and Micro-thrusters

Integrated Weapons Striker Pack

• 2 x 75mm Cannon

• 2 x 47mm Railgun

• 2 x 1.4 meter Anti-ship Heat Sword

• Combined Shield

◾18mm 6-barrel Gatling Machine Gun

◾"Midas Messer" Beam Boomerang

**Colors:** Original Strike Gundam colors

* * *

**G 06) Strike Rouge Gundam**

**Namesake:** Strike Rouge Gundam, Strike Rouge

**Unit type:** 3.5th Gen Custom Multi-Mode IS

**Developed from:** Strike Gundam

**Variants:**

Aile Strike Rouge

Sword Strike Rouge

Launcher Strike Rouge

Perfect Strike Rouge (2nd Shift form)

Strike Rouge IWSP

Strike Rouge Ootori

**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being Ptolemy Group

**Known Pilots:** Michiko Yamakawa Vashti

**Power-plant:** Magic Core + Solar Energy System

**Armor:** E-Carbon, Magic Energy Composite Armor, Phase-Shift Armor

**Armaments:**

2 x "Igelstellung" 9mm Multi-barrel Head-mounted Vulcan

2 x "Armor Schneider" Combat Knife

4 x "Armor Schneider II" Combat Heat Knife (later upgrade) (2 x mounted in feet, similar to the Aegis Gundam's foot-mounted beam sabers)

**Special Equipment and Features:**

Hardpoints (for Striker Packs)

AI Support System

Power Extender

Instant Striker Pack Install System

4 x Extended Solar Battery Pack (2nd Shift form only)

**Optional Equipment:**

1 x 23mm High-energy Beam Rifle

Shield

Space booster

Aile Striker

Sword Striker

Launcher Striker

IWSP

Ootori Striker

• 85mm Beam Launcher

• 47mm Railgun

• 1.78 meter Large Anti-Ship Sword

• 55mm Missile Launcher

◾12 x Small Missile

**Colors:** Original Strike Rouge Gundam colors

* * *

**03) GNX-607T/BWT GN-XII Twin Cannon**

**Model number:** GNX-607T/BWT

**Namesake:** GN-XII Twin Cannon, Twin Cannon

**Unit type:** Custom Heavy Assault Mobile Suit

**Developed from:**

GNX-607T/BW GN-XII Cannon

**Developed into: **none

**Variants: **none

**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being

**Operators: **Celestial Being ESF Branch

**Known Pilots: **Shiho Hahnenfuss

**Power-plant: **Solar Energy System + 1 x GN Tau Drive II

**Armor: **Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Propulsion movement:** GN Verniers

**Armaments:**

GN Beam Saber

10 x GN Claws – A secondary melee weapon unique to the GN-X series of Mobile Suits is the GN Claw, which utilizes GN particles to enhance the cutting ability of the Mobile Suit's claw-like fingers. It is mainly used as a last resort in close combat.

2 x GN Vulcan Gun (mounted in head)

GN Anti-ship Laser Sword – A handheld melee weapon developed by combining the GN Buster Sword with a beam saber. Similar to a beam saber, it has a laser edge for cutting into enemy targets, and is powerful enough to cleave a ship or large scale Neuroi in half. When not in use, it is stored on the left hip.

2 x GN Cannon – Two shoulder-mounted GN cannons based on the GN Launcher of the GNW-001 Gundam Throne Eins, the two GN cannons are high output particle cannons that can easily destroy a Mobile Suit or a large-scale Neuroi in a single shot.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking Port (Haro)

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

**Optional Equipment:**

2 x GN Mega Launcher (GNW-001 Gundam Throne Eins')

2 x GN Bazooka II (GN-008 Gundam Seravee's)

GN Anti-ship Laser Sword (extra, stored on right hip)

**Colors:** Original CGUE DEEP Arms colors

* * *

**4) SVMS-01O Over Flag Celestial Being Version**

**Model number:** SVMS-01O

**Unit type:** Limited Production Transformable High Mobility Aerial Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

SVMS-01O Over Flag

**Developed into:** To Be Announced

**Variants: **

SVMS-01AS Over Flag Aero Sky Package Type

SVMS-01OP Over Flag Orbit Package Type

SMVS-01SG Over Flag Ground Package Shell Type

SVMS-01AP Over Flag Orbit Package Colony Guard Type

SVMS-010A Over Flag Astro Package Type

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being Mobile Suit Factory

**Operators:** Celestial Being Overflag Squadron

**Known Pilots:** Jane Thatch, Bronislava Safonov, Rosalie de La Poype, Marian E. Carl, Giuseppina Cenni, Rena Imelia, Eugenia Horbaczewski, Elizabeth F. Beurling

**Power-plant**: Solar Energy System + E-carbon Armor (stores Hydrogen)

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon Armor

**Armaments:**

20mm Machine Gun (mounted next to where the drum cockpit would have been)

Defense Rod - A standard defensive feature of AEU and Union Mobile Suits. The defense rod is a rotating rod usually connected to the elbow joint of the Mobile Suit's left arm. Using rotary motion, the rod is capable of deflecting certain physical rounds such as bullets from a machine gun and in some cases a shot from a beam rifle by generating a plasma field. Compared to a conventional shield, the defense rod is lighter as the Flag has to maintain its speed advantage and maneuverability during combat.

200mm New Type Linear Rifle

2 x Sonic Blade (Plasma Sword)

Missiles (Air-to-air, Air-to-surface, Surface-to-Surface)

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking Port (Haro)

Visor AI

Hardpoint (for extra missiles)

Chaff &amp; Flare Dispenser

"Veda-based Operating System"

Separation System

* * *

**5) GNX-604T/SC Advanced GN-X Sniper Custom**

**Model number: **GNX-604T/SC

**Unit type:** Ace Pilot-Use Custom Sniper Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GN-002 Gundam Dynames

GNX-604T Advanced GN-X

**Developed into:** none

**Variants:** none

**Manufacturer: **Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being

**Known Pilots:** Wilma Bishop

**Power-plant:** Solar Energy System + GN Drive Tau II

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Propulsion movement:** GN Verniers

**Armaments:**

2 x GN Vulcan (mounted in head)

10 x GN Claw

Advanced GN Beam Rifle – This is an advanced custom version of the standard GN-X rifle. The base parts are the same as the original, but it allows the pilot to adjust its accuracy, rate of fire and penetrating power in real time. The rifle also mounts a GN beam saber, as the standard GN-X's leg saber racks have been replaced with new GN Verniers. When not in use, the rifle is stored on the left shoulder hardpoint.

GN Sniper Rifle (GN-002 Gundam Dynames') – Mounted on right shoulder hardpoint, hand carried in use.

2 x GN Beam Machine Pistol – Has a higher rate of fire and is more accurate compared to most GN Beam Pistol models, but still weaker than the GN Submachine Gun/GN Beam Machinegun and even more so than the GN Beam Rifle. The Beam Machine Pistol contains GN Bayonet Blades with anti-beam coating to fight or defend against attacks from beam sabers or blade weapons and can be infused with GN particles like a GN blade. These GN Machine Pistols are the same type used by the GN-002REII Gundam Dynames Repair II.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking Port (Haro)

Enhanced Sensors

Sniper Mode

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

**Optional Equipment:**

GN Full Shield

Super Substratospheric Altitude Gun

**Colors:** Grey and green colors

* * *

**6) GNX-509T Throne Varanus**

**Model number:** GNX-509T

**Unit type:** Prototype General Purpose Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GNW-001 Gundam Throne Eins

GNW-002 Gundam Throne Zwei

GNW-003 Gundam Throne Drei

**Developed into:** GNX-603T GN-X

**Variants:** none

**Manufacturer:** Corner Family

**Operators:** Celestial Being

**Known Pilots:** Kuroe Ayaka

**Power-plant:** Solar Energy System + GN Drive Tau II

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Propulsion movement:** GN Verniers

**Armaments:**

GN Long Barrel Rifle – A prototype version of the GN-X's GN Beam Rifle with long barrel attachment. Parts for the GN Particle supply system, sensors, etc. are all from the Gundam Throne Eins.

GN Beam Saber – Mounted on right knee armor, hand-carried in use.

GN Chain Gun – A small-caliber weapon that is a modified version of the Throne's GN Handgun, it is a mounted on the left arm. While its firepower is low, it is quite versatile.

GN Defense Rod – A defensive weapon consisting of a combination between a regular Defense Rod and a GN Field, it is mounted on the left shoulder.

GN Shield – Mounted on the right shoulder, it is almost identical to the shield used by the Gundam Throne Eins. It also serves a secondary role as a GN Condenser for feeding GN Particles to the rifle.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking Port (Haro)

Enhanced Sensors

GN Particle Generators – Despite the name, these generators function more like GN particle emitters and the primary generator of GN particles remain the GN Drive Tau II. Two different sets of GN Particle Generators are tested on the MS in order to find out which one is more suitable. The shoulder mounted set is eventually chosen and developed into the ones used by GN-X. The waist mounted set use the same system as the ones on the Trinity Mothership and the Gundam Thrones "Turbulenz" High-Mobility Equipment, and is rejected due to its complexity.

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

**Optional Equipment: **none

**History – **Alejandro invited Deborah to a secret establishment, requesting her to be the test pilot of the Throne Varanus. Alejandro reveals that he is a member of Celestial Being, and will be betraying the organization soon for a righteous cause. He then explains that the Throne Varanus was created in order to develop a mass production MS that could oppose the Celestial Being's Gundams. Thanks to the data from Deborah's use of the Throne Varanus and her advice, that the GNX-603T GN-X produced later could be so easily piloted by the soldiers of the three superpowers. Five and a half years later, around six months after Celestial Being defeated the Innovators and Ribbons Almark, Setsuna F. Seiei discovered the Varanus in a hidden hangar and used the GN-001REIII Gundam Exia Repair III to take the unit back to the Ptolemaios II for analysis. The data gathered allowed Ian and Linda Vashti to finish the GN-011 Gundam Harute's GN Sword Rifles ahead of schedule by using the Varanus' GN Chain Gun as a base for the rifles of the swords, and flight tests allowed Celestial Being engineers to see the strengths and weaknesses to be expected from the GN-X series of Mobile Suits deployed by the ESF. During the ELS War, the Throne Varanus was onboard the CBS-742 Ptolemaios II Kai, but was not fielded due to the lack of a pilot. When Tieria Erde sent the retreat signal to the ESF Defense Forces to regroup around the _Celestial Being_ deep space colony ship, the Ptolemaios II Kai was more than 65% assimilated by the ELS. Most of the crew ejected from the ship using the escape pods, while Lasse Aeon and Sumeragi Lee Noriega abandoned the ship by piloting the Throne Varanus and the CBNGN-003 Union Flag Celestial Being Version to escape the doomed vessel and tow the escape pods into the effective range of the GNT-0000 Gundam 00 Qan[T]'s Quantum Burst to escape from the battle, transporting them to a different reality. The Varanus was then kept in storage until Kuroe Ayaka requested that the unit be upgraded and modernized for her use.

* * *

**7) GNX-607T/AC GN-XII Sword Custom**

**Model number:** GNX-607T/AC

**Unit type:** Custom Heavy Assault Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GNX-607T/AC GN-XII Sword

**Developed into:** none

**Variants:** none

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being

**Known Pilots:** Nikka Edvardine Katajainen

**Power-plant:** Solar Energy System + GN Drive Tau II

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Propulsion movement:** GN Verniers

**Armaments:**

2 x GN Vulcan (mounted in head)

10 x GN Claw

2 x GN Beam Saber

GN Buster Sword – Mounted on the left shoulder, the GN Buster Sword is derived from the GNW-002 Gundam Throne Zwei's data. The GN buster sword is a physical blade that can emit a GN field along the blade to increase the blade's keenness. Also, the field can be expanded to be used as a shield.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking Port (Haro)

Enhanced Sensor Fin

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

**Optional Equipment:**

GN Sword

2 x GN Sword II

GN Buster Sword (GNW-20000 Arche Gundam's) – An enhanced version of the GNW-002 Gundam Throne Zwei's GN Buster Sword, it is mounted on the left shoulder and is hand-carried in use. Compared to Zwei's, the GN Buster Sword formerly used by the Arche is longer and lighter. The weapon itself is a GN Particle-infused vibro-blade, allowing the blade to cut through any modern MS unit. Unlike the Zwei's, which doubled as both blade and shield, Arche's Buster Sword is designed purely for offense and a small shield is carried separately instead. The Buster Sword also possesses a Rifle Mode similar to GN-001 Gundam Exia's GN Sword. When activated, the sword exposes a handlebar (for stability and handling) and splits open in the middle to reveal a gun barrel.

GN Mega Launcher (GNX-607T/BW GN-XII Cannon Custom's)

**Colors:** White and light blue tundra colors

* * *

**8) GNX-607T/BW GN-XII Cannon Custom**

**Model number:** GNX-607T/BW

**Unit type:** Custom Heavy Assault Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GNX-607T/BW GN-XII Cannon

**Developed into:** none

**Variants:** none

**Manufacturer:** Celestial Being

**Operators:** Celestial Being

**Known Pilots:** Katharine O'Hare

**Power-plant:** Solar Energy System + GN Drive Tau II

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Propulsion movement:** GN Verniers

**Armaments:**

2 x GN Vulcan (mounted in head)

10 x GN Claw

2 x GN Beam Saber

GN Mega Launcher

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Docking Port (Haro)

Enhanced Sensor Fin

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

**Optional Equipment:**

GN Bazooka (GN-005 Gundam Virtue's)

2 x GN Bazooka II (GN-008 Gundam Seravee's)

GN Buster Sword (GNX-607T/AC GN-XII Sword Custom's)

**Colors:** Tan and dark grey

* * *

**9) GNY-003F2 Gundam Abulhool Type F2**

**Model number:** GNY-002F2 (original Abulhool), GNY-003F2B (Black version)

**Namesake:**

Gundam Abulhool F2, Abulhool F2 (original Abulhool)

Black Gundam Abulhool Type F2, Black Abulhool F2 (Black version)

**Unit type:** Transformable Reconnaissance/High Speed Assault Mobile Suit

**Developed from: **

GNY-003F Gundam Abulhool Type F

GNY-003FB Black Gundam Abulhool Type F

GN-003/af-G02 Gundam Kyrios Gust

**Developed into:** none

**Variants:** GNY-003F2B Black Gundam Abulhool Type F2

**Manufacturer:** Krung Thep

**Operators:** Celestial Being, Witch Overflag Squadron, Fereshte

**Known Pilots:** Waltraud Nowotny (original Abulhool), Hermiya (Black version)

**Power-plant:** Solar Energy System + GN Drive Tau II + GN Condenser

**Armor:** Laminated E-Carbon Armor, GN Composite Armor

**Propulsion movement:** GN Verniers (Primary), Plasma Engine (Secondary)

**Armaments:**

GN Vulcan

2 x 5-tube Missile Launcher

• 30 x GN Micro Missile

• GN Energy Torpedoes

4 x GN Guided Bomb

2 x GN Cannon (same power as GN Launcher of Gundam Throne Eins)

2 x GN Gatling Beam Cannon - More powerful than GN Vulcans with a rate of fire and 75% power output of a GN Twin Beam Rifle, it is strong enough to destroy a GN-XIII in medium to long ranged combat and can no doubt gut through a Large-type and Heavy Neuroi in one volley with precise timing and aiming accuracy.

**Special Equipment(s) &amp; Features:**

Chaff, Flare, &amp; Smoke Dispenser

Enhanced Sensors

Optical Camouflage

Trans-Am System

"Veda-based Operating System"

Manipulators - The manipulators are pincer like weapons that serve as the Abulhool F2's "arms". The pincers can only be used in MS mode, and have a very limited range of movement. However, the manipulators can also be used for grabbing weapons and/or objects.

GN Energy Torpedo Generator - This weapon is locked for the most part and will only unlock after the Abulhool F2 has exhausted all its GN Micro Missiles. After that, the 5-tube Missile Launcher will then be able to fire unguided energy torpedoes made up of tightly dense and compressed GN Particles which are created inside the Missile Launcher. Unlike GN Missiles, GN Energy Torpedoes are powerful enough that a it only takes as few as four of them to overwhelm a GN Field and destroy a mobile suit in one hit assuming it is a direct hit in the cockpit areas. Each time GN Energy Torpedo has been fired, it takes approximately three minutes for a new GN Energy Torpedo to be generated inside the missile tube to replace the one fired.

**Optional Equipment:**

2 x High-output Large GN Vernier

2 x GN Buster Rifle - The same kind of weapon as used by CB-0000G/C Reborns Gundam/Reborns Cannon, 1.5 Gundam, and its mass production variant the 1.5 Gundam Dark, the Abulhool F2's GN Buster Rifles also has a variable output and a cord connects it with the Abulhool F2's GN Condenser to greatly increase its firepower. The GN Buster Rifles also have mounted targeting sensors to ensure reliable accuracy and can also be fired simultaneously with the GN Cannons (also including the GN Long Barrel Cannon if mounted) for a devastating "Burst Mode" attack. They are held by the Abulhool F2's Manipulator arms.

2 x Wing Extender - Two Wing Extenders can be attached to each wing of the Abulhool F2 to increase its aerodynamic flight and speed capabilities. Based on the Anti-ship GN Sword of the Empruss they are also function as Anti-ship GN Swords which is useful for slicing enemy battleships, mobile suits, or Neuroi.

GN Long Barrel Cannon - The GN Long Barrel Cannon is armed for precise attacks at extremely high distances in the unstable conditions of the stratosphere. The Cannon is linked to a sensor in the nose that gives it considerable accuracy. This weapon was intended for missions in high atmospheric, sub-orbital, or space environment although it can also be used in Earth's atmosphere as well without complications.


End file.
